Susan Hawkins’ path into government contracting wasn’t mapped out. It started with an interest in national security in college and an early role in policy and legislative analysis supporting the energy sector and the Defense Department. What began as exploration soon became a career defined by mission and technology as she discovered a passion for solving complex customer challenges.
Over more than three decades, Hawkins built a career across capture, corporate development and business development, intentionally seeking roles that expanded her perspective and deepened her understanding of mission and market strategy. That breadth of experience now informs her approach to growth, where connecting strategy to execution is critical.
Today, as senior vice president of growth for intelligence and cyber at Amentum, Hawkins leads efforts to align the company’s capabilities with evolving intelligence and national security priorities. In this Q&A, she shares how those early career pivots shaped her trajectory, the personal connection that drives her work, and where she sees the greatest opportunities in intelligence, cyber and digital infrastructure.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
My interest in national security started in college, where I studied political science. Since then, I have spent over 30 years in the national security industry.
I began my career the way many people do, through exploration. I was fortunate to start in policy and legislative analysis supporting the energy sector and the Department of War before transitioning into the government contracting industry. There I learned how our government operates and how policy affects industry, and I learned early that I enjoy working in areas mission and technology intersect. Over the years, I have had the honor of supporting Department of War, Civilian, and Intelligence customers across many mission areas.
Eventually, I took the leap into capture, where I learned strategy and market placement, and moved from there into corporate development. Following a large divestiture, I realized I wanted to return to a customer focus. That is when I transitioned into business development. It has been a wonderful career choice because I love the dynamic environment. You need to continuously expand your knowledge of mission and capabilities to keep your company relevant and support evolving customer requirements.
Today, as Senior Vice President of Growth for Intelligence and Cyber at Amentum, I draw on each of those experiences. Having worked across operations, technology, strategy, and growth gives me a unique perspective on how to build solutions that not only win business but deliver meaningful mission outcomes for our customers.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I lead business development in the national security industry because I have always valued being part of something meaningful, and I enjoy solving problems. Every step in my career stretched me to learn a new aspect of our industry or a new area of technology, all while working to solve a customer challenge.
I never set out to become a growth executive. Instead, I pursued opportunities that allowed me to learn new aspects of the business and broaden my perspective. That broad foundation has been one of the most influential factors in my career because it allows me to approach challenges from multiple angles and connect strategy to execution.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
My connection comes through family. Members of my family have served in the military, and that service shaped how I think about the people behind the mission. When we support intelligence and national security customers, we are ultimately supporting the men and women who depend on that work to stay safe and succeed.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission and growth strategy?
My primary responsibility is leading growth for Amentum’s Intelligence and Cyber business, which supports our national and military intelligence community. One of my top priorities is ensuring we
remain closely aligned with our customers’ evolving missions. Technology is advancing rapidly, and customers are seeking trusted partners who can help them modernize while managing risk and maintaining mission continuity. That is exactly where Amentum positions itself: a trusted partner willing to take on our customers’ most significant and complex challenges.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
Our customers need to introduce innovation quickly to modernize aging systems, strengthen cybersecurity, accelerate decision-making, and increase operational efficiency. They must do so in an environment where the volume of data is overwhelming, budgets are constrained, and the threat landscape is changing rapidly. We see growth opportunities at the intersection of intelligence operations and analysis, and critical digital infrastructure, as that’s where customer pressures converge.
How are you and your team planning to address and prepare for these opportunities?
The companies that will succeed are those that balance innovation with practical execution. That is why we spend significant time understanding our customers’ missions, challenges, and future objectives, so we can anticipate needs rather than simply react to requirements.
We are investing in solution development around specific mission requirements, integrating capabilities across our cyber, intelligence and analysis, enterprise IT, and development and integration portfolios while applying advanced processing and AI.
We also have an advantage in the reach-back we bring. Our business can draw on the full Amentum enterprise: roughly 50,000 employees in about 70 countries, with approximately half of our U.S. personnel holding clearances and more than 30 percent of our workforce in the STEM and engineering fields. When a customer’s mission demands a capability we rarely have to look outside the company to find what’s needed.
How important is mentorship and networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?
GovCon is a relationship-driven industry built on trust and credibility. Anyone who has been in our business knows this is a small world, and customers and partners develop expectations not just around a company brand but around the individual, as well. It is important to surround yourself with authentic colleagues and teammates you can trust to be a good sounding board and provide meaningful feedback. Some of the most important lessons I learned came from leaders who invested time in helping me develop professionally.
As leaders, I believe we have a responsibility to pay that forward. Developing the next generation of professionals is one of the most important contributions we can make to our industry.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
I genuinely enjoy learning, asking questions, and exploring new ideas. It is a trait that has shaped both my career and my approach to leadership. I am a very curious person, and because of that I love traveling to new places, trying new cuisines and restaurants, and exploring a broad range of arts. I especially enjoy reading or listening to historical fiction. Those books make you feel like you’re exploring a new culture while the story around the characters draws you into the plot.
