Leidos’ recent contract win with the Defense Information Systems Agency provides yet another opportunity for the company to deliver efficiencies and better performance to the Defense Department’s digital infrastructure — a current critical need.
That’s according to Leidos’ defense growth and integration executive, Daniel Voce, who oversaw the capture efforts of DISA’s Defense Enclave Services $11.5 billion proposal the company won earlier this year.
The multiyear contract will consolidate DOD’s sprawling networks across its many support agencies into a common shared service provider network.
“There is a strong focus on migration, modernization of the network, and, of course, operations and sustainment,” Voce says. “At Leidos, we have a lot of experience with network migrations.”
Leidos recently migrated over a million users into new networks, equipping the company with fresh experience and lessons learned.
“We have an understanding of all the differences that can exist across disparate networks,” Voce says.
He adds that Leidos is purpose-built to address the size, scale and reach of programs like DES through strong program management practices, a robust talent acquisition practice and a horizontal technology capability under Leidos’ Office of Technology. Plus, the company has executed large-scale digital modernization programs at DISA, the Navy, NASA and other federal agencies.
“DES is going to deliver a common way of doing IT across these defense agencies, and we’ll apply our lessons learned to accomplish those goals,” Voce says.
This win also represents Leidos’ commitment and dedication to its mission, which starts at the enterprise leadership level and flows down.
“We consistently stand behind the mission and our corporation never hesitates to deliver resources to help our programs and customers,” Voce says. “It’s not always a quantifiable value, but it’s one that’s critical to being the right partner.”
Growth in Wins and People
This defense and people-centered mission is also particularly important to Voce. In his current role, Voce is focused on growing Leidos’ defense business and ensuring new business proposals are compelling and meet customer requirements. He’s also focused on integration, ensuring existing programs are performing to customers’ expectations and leveraging the full capabilities of Leidos while supporting program managers.
“Being able to help them see the full breadth of the corporation that they may not always see day to day, whether in the technology, people or resources available, is really a critical thing for our company as we continue to grow,” Voce says.
Growth is one of Voce’s leading motivators. He’s passionate about supporting Leidos’ growth, as well as the growth of people’s jobs within the company. The DES contract fulfills both those passions.
“There’s just nothing better than growing the company and the missions we support,” Voce says, “but also opening doors for hundreds of Leidos employees and partner employees to hone their skills and accelerate their careers.”
And personally, working around motivated, driven people drives Voce in his position as well.
“I’ve seen many great leaders emerge from programs like DES,” he says. “There’s nothing quite like working a large-scale digital program like this one.”
A Soft Spot for Technology
Voce has also always had a passion for the technical side of things. He’s an engineer at heart, he says, and when he transitioned into executive management, there wasn’t much time to dive into technology.
“It’s not really a luxury of mine anymore, but I get to work with engineers,” he says. “I do have that focus. That’s certainly motivating for me.”
His affinity for STEM-related fields began early. As an undergrad, he studied computer science and mathematics at the State University of New York College at Potsdam. After he graduated, he became a software developer at a large corporation, where he wrote embedded software for network controllers. Soon thereafter, he pursued a graduate degree in mathematics and eventually earned his doctoral degree from the University of Albany SUNY.
He then took his educational and industry experience to the satellite field, developing algorithms for satellites onboard processors and ground systems. Not long after he began his career, the company he worked for was acquired by Lockheed Martin, where he would spend the next 17 years in increasing roles of responsibility, eventually as a senior fellow for Lockheed and then technical director for enterprise IT solutions, and program director for the DISA portfolio.
It was during his time at Lockheed he started working with new business activities and proposals.
“I found that work tremendously interesting and personally satisfying as well,” Voce says. “It’s really rewarding to know that you are part of a hardworking team that focuses on growing the company and creating new jobs and career opportunities for people.”
Voce pivoted from technical to management at Lockheed, and eventually, his business unit within Lockheed was acquired by Leidos in 2016.
“It’s been a great transition ever since,” he says.
That led to his prior role at Leidos as senior vice president of enterprise and cyber solutions, where he led a team of program managers, engineers and analysts helping to modernize, operate and defend global DOD networks and systems.
He and his team have nearly tripled the size of their business in five years, and created a backlog of work that will grow careers for employees into the next decade.
“Having the ability to run that business and grow, it’s been just a fantastic experience,” Voce says. “I’m really excited to see the next generation of Leidos executives come from these programs.”
A Continued Growth Trajectory
Leidos’ defense business has grown significantly over the last five years, but Voce sees an even greater opportunity to be the partner of choice for federal and international customers.
“There’s much in front of us on how we organize our technologies and apply them to our customers, there’s great opportunities there, and I’m very happy to be involved with it and helping to lead the charge,” Voce says.
And considering he measures growth in both business and workforce success, he defines personal growth as helping some of Leidos’ top leaders of today run the company in the future.
“I think the future generation of Leidos leaders exist already within the company,” Voce says, “and being able to support and mentor them is one of my top personal goals going forward.”
Dan Voce was also the recipient of WashingtonExec’s 2021 Pinnacle Award for Cybersecurity Industry Executive of the Year (Public Company).