Vice President of Defense and Security

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.

The work we do matters.

About the job

Since launching several years ago, our team has grown rapidly. We find ourselves in an exciting position to further deepen our partnerships within the government contracting space, to continue to attract and retain amazing teammates, and to scale our capacity to make an even bigger difference in the world.

Currently, our company is organized into three main groups: Executive Office (sets and operationalizes the strategic direction of the company), Federal Health & Civilian (focused on federal health and civilian missions), and Defense & Security (focused on defense, national security, and public safety missions).

As the Vice President (VP) of Defense & Security, you’ll own the overall success of Skylight’s defense & security business — including full accountability for profit and loss (P&L), strategic growth, and exceptional client outcomes. This portfolio includes U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) components and security-mission agencies, for example the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

What you’ll do

• Own and expand Skylight’s portfolio of work with defense and security customers, managing it as an independent business.
• Research and interpret key market drivers (such as policy shifts, mission priorities, funding patterns, and evolving threat landscapes), and proactively understand each defense and security customer’s goals, challenges, and requirements
• Translate market insights and customer feedback into innovative or enhanced service offerings, aligned with Skylight’s strategy and core capabilities
• Build strategic relationships with government stakeholders, mission leadership (military and civilian), change agents, and vendor partners to identify and pursue new business opportunities
• Lead and oversee bid & proposal processes to successfully secure client engagements
• Transform each client’s objectives and constraints into customized engagement strategies, delivering unique experiences and impactful results efficiently
• Assemble and manage multi-disciplinary teams — leveraging talent sourcing and subcontracting with vendor partners — to ensure successful client outcomes
• Provide transparent oversight and ongoing visibility into the status, health, and effectiveness of each client engagement
• Facilitate open retrospectives with clients and Skylight teams to assess effectiveness, identify improvement areas, and implement actionable changes
• Step in with hands-on client delivery support whenever necessary to maintain high-quality outcomes
• Oversee and support core operational functions, including human resource management, to enable team success and organizational effectiveness

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Experience in defense, homeland security, or justice mission environments
• Ability to manage a multi-million-dollar profit & loss business, including multiple client engagements with multiple subcontractors
• Ability to sustain and grow a professional services business through business development, opportunity capture, and bid & proposal
• Strong understanding of how a professional services and government contracting business works
• Startup mentality, including a high degree of entrepreneurialism and resourcefulness
• Excellent general management and leadership skills
• Outstanding organizational skills, including attention to detail
• Excellent people management skills
• Experience building and managing high-performing teams
• Relentless commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Collaborative, supportive leadership style
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills
• Strong business acumen
• Superb written and oral communication skills
• Relentless commitment to excellence and quality in everything we do
• Strong understanding of business functions such as people ops, finance, marketing, business development, etc.
• Ability to collect, analyze, and derive actionable insights from financial, operational, and performance data
• Ability to serve as a coach/mentor to other leaders and managers
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote-team environment

Don’t meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We’d still love to hear from you. If you’re excited about the role, apply. We consider candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You may be required to complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This is a fully remote position.

Care package

Salary

The salary range for this position is between $210,000 and $270,000, based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Company performance and growth bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good

Interview tips

• Visit our join page to learn more about how our interview process works.
• Check out our Career Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
• If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at [email protected].

We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.