Everforth ECS Federal has an immediate opening for a Strategic Planner supporting a Department of Defense (DoD) customer in the National Capital Region.
The Strategic Planner supports the deliberate planning perspectives for the J3 Operations Directorate by leading deliberate planning efforts and translating command guidance, emerging requirements, and evolving mission demands into executable plans and staff products.
The planner develops concepts, branches, sequels, orders, and planning products, coordinates planning assumptions and decision points across the organization, and transitions approved plans into future operations.
This is a fast-moving headquarters environment in a growing organization where processes are still forming. The role requires an experienced action officer who operates with minimal supervision, takes initiative, and contributes wherever the mission requires.
PRIMARY DUTIES:
- Convert command guidance and emerging mission requirements into deliberate plans, concepts, branches, sequels, orders, and staff products.
- Lead and facilitate operational planning teams, working groups, and integrated planning efforts across the task force.
- Build, lead, and sustain cross-functional teams drawn from across the task force, the Services, and mission partners to address planning requirements spanning organizational boundaries.
- Coordinate planning assumptions, decision points, and dependencies across directorates and mission partners.
- Conduct deliberate planning for future mission requirements, including mission expansion across unmanned system domains.
- Take assigned planning requirements, establish ownership, coordinate stakeholders, and drive them from initiation through completion.
- Ensure planning products account for applicable authorities, jurisdictional boundaries, and operational constraints across domestic and overseas mission sets.
- Synchronize planning efforts with other staff sections, the Services, combatant commands, interagency partners, and external mission partners.
- Coordinate the transition of approved plans into future operations and execution.
- Represent the directorate at planning boards, working groups, and coordination forums.
- Support development of planning workflows and dashboard capability, including AI-enabled workflow tools.
- Prepare and deliver briefings to leadership, operational customers, and partner organizations as required.
Salary Range: $134,000-224,000
General Description of Benefit
Preferred Qualifications- Must be a US Citizen
- Active DoD TS/SCI clearance
- Must have a Bachelor's Degree
- 10+ years of relevant operational, planning, or headquarters staff experience, including demonstrated experience as an action officer, planner, or effort lead. Additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirements.
- Demonstrated experience leading operational planning teams, working groups, or equivalent cross-functional planning efforts to completion.
- Demonstrated experience building and leading cross-functional teams composed of personnel from multiple organizations, directorates, or agencies without direct supervisory authority over team members.
- Experience producing deliberate planning products, orders, or concepts of operation at a headquarters staff.
- Experience executing taskings with minimal guidance, establishing ownership, coordinating across organizational boundaries, and delivering a finished product.
- Demonstrated initiative and the ability to identify, organize, and execute work without continuous direction.
- Team-first approach with a willingness to contribute wherever the mission requires in an all-hands environment.
- Comfortable standing up an initial process, testing it, identifying where it fails, and improving it quickly.
- Familiarity with the legal and jurisdictional frameworks governing unmanned systems operations and counter-unmanned systems employment across domestic and overseas mission sets, and the judgment to identify when legal or policy expertise must be brought into planning.
- Working knowledge of the joint planning process and the development of staff products including orders, point papers, staff summary sheets, and concepts of operation.
- Strong writing, briefing, and communication skills, including the ability to produce staff products and briefings for senior and operational audiences.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, mission-focused environment with shifting priorities and time-sensitive requirements.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, collaboration platforms, and standard staff coordination tools.
Skills Required
- U.S. citizenship
- Active DoD TS/SCI security clearance
- Bachelor’s degree; additional relevant experience may substitute
- 10+ years of relevant operational, planning, or headquarters staff experience
- Experience as an action officer, planner, or effort lead
- Experience leading operational planning teams, working groups, or cross-functional planning efforts to completion
- Experience building and leading teams across multiple organizations without direct supervisory authority
- Experience producing deliberate planning products, orders, or concepts of operation at headquarters staff
- Experience executing taskings independently, coordinating stakeholders, and delivering completed products
- Demonstrated initiative and ability to organize and execute work with minimal direction
- Familiarity with legal and jurisdictional frameworks for unmanned systems and counter-unmanned systems operations
- Working knowledge of the joint planning process and staff products, including orders, point papers, staff summary sheets, and concepts of operation
- Strong writing, briefing, and communication skills for senior and operational audiences
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and time-sensitive requirements
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, collaboration platforms, and standard staff coordination tools
- Team-first approach and willingness to contribute in an all-hands environment
- Ability to establish, test, evaluate, and improve processes quickly
ECS Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about ECS and has not been reviewed or approved by ECS.
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Healthcare Strength — ECS advertises multiple national-network medical plan options with HSA eligibility alongside dental and vision coverage. Coverage generally begins quickly and is paired with company-paid short- and long-term disability, adding stability to the health package.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with Safe Harbor and immediate vesting on employer contributions is emphasized, with an employer match available. Access to an employee stock purchase plan via the parent company provides an additional savings avenue.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave up to 30 days, adoption assistance, and other family-oriented leaves are highlighted. Feedback suggests these offerings add meaningful value beyond base pay for many roles.
ECS Insights
What We Do
ECS, a segment of ASGN (NYSE: ASGN), delivers advanced solutions and services in cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), application and IT modernization, and science and engineering. The company solves critical, complex challenges for customers across the U.S. public sector, defense, intelligence and commercial industries. ECS maintains partnerships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and holds specialized certifications in their technologies. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, ECS has more than 3,400 employees throughout the U.S. and has been recognized as a Top Workplace by The Washington Post for the last five years.
