The finalists for WashingtonExec’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards were announced Sept. 20, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 21.
Next is Alex Lopez, vice president of business development at ECS, and finalist in the Business Development Executive of the Year, Public Company, category. Here, she talks about recent achievements, shares career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2024?
I have built a high-performing growth organization, increasing the ECS pipeline by 25% year-over-year and our win percentage by 100%. Through my efforts driving strategic growth, ECS has also effectively expanded into new markets, including Health IT, with the awards of the Veterans Affairs (VA) T4NG2 contract and two blanket purchase agreements with the National Institutes of Health. ECS has also secured our largest-ever single award contract during my tenure: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Data Services award, valued at $528M.
I have been highly successful in building relationships and connecting the capabilities and talents new ECSers have brought to the table from several of our acquisitions, helping drive a singular vision of success for the company. Relatedly, I have been instrumental in persuading various acquired teams and organizations to forego their previous identities and commit to forging one unified ECS brand.
With a focus on training and mentoring ECS division leaders, I have evolved how ECS engages with and executes growth activity for existing contracts, recompetes, and new contract awards. This has resulted in an increase in the average ECS deal size of more than 30% and enabled us to meet our business growth goals quarter-over-quarter.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission?
At ECS, our unwavering priority remains ensuring mission readiness, operational superiority, national security, and force preparedness. We are recognized for pioneering innovative solutions to address mission-critical challenges and we will continue to focus on the missions that matter most. We were the first to deploy operational AI to the DOD and today we continue to look beyond the horizon, strategically investing in research and development while advancing existing products across Open-Source Intelligence and sensemaking, integrated AI and cyber solutions, sensor innovation, and data mesh architectures.
What is your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Be genuinely curious about the people and the work taking place around you. Ask questions, build quality relationships and volunteer to help, even if you do not think you have the experience. It is not lack of experience that holds you back, it’s lack of determination to do what we need to do to be successful. We waste so much energy creating excuses as to why we cannot be, do, or have the things we want. Take time to set obtainable goals — personally, professionally, spiritually — and achieve them. Passion trumps fear.