Manager Federal Contractor Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

Description:

Paragon Micro is one of the nation's leading technology solution providers serving the U.S. Federal Government. With established positions on premier federal contract vehicles, long-standing OEM partnerships, and a growing presence across the Department of Defense and Civilian agencies, we are entering the next phase of our growth.

We are seeking an experienced Sr. Manager, Federal Services to build and lead our Federal Services organization.

This is not a project management role. This is an opportunity to create, scale, and lead a world-class Federal Services Practice that becomes a strategic differentiator for Paragon Micro.

You will define our services strategy, build our delivery organization, establish a nationwide ecosystem of cleared subcontractors and strategic partners, recruit top engineering talent, and create repeatable service offerings that enable profitable growth across the Federal marketplace.

The ideal candidate has successfully built Federal services organizations within a VAR, systems integrator, OEM, or government contractor and understands how to grow both project-based professional services and long-term staffing and managed services businesses.

Position Summary

The Director of the Federal Services Practice is responsible for the strategy, growth, operational excellence, and financial performance of Paragon Micro's Federal Services organization.

This leader will work closely with Executive Leadership, Sales, Capture, Solutions Architects, Contracts, and OEM partners to expand Paragon's Federal services capabilities while ensuring exceptional customer outcomes.

Success in this role will be measured by growth in services revenue, expansion of delivery capabilities, customer satisfaction, development of strategic partnerships, and the creation of a scalable, profitable Federal Services Practice.

Key Responsibilities

Practice Strategy & Growth

• Develop and execute the long-term vision for Paragon's Federal Services Practice. 
• Identify new Federal services offerings that align with customer demand and OEM partner strategies. 
• Build scalable delivery models that support profitable growth. 
• Establish standardized service methodologies, templates, pricing models, and operational processes. 
• Develop annual strategic plans and growth initiatives for the Federal Services organization. 
• Serve as the executive leader responsible for expanding Paragon's federal services business.

Build & Lead the Delivery Organization

• Recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing consulting engineers, solution architects, project managers, and technical specialists. 
• Build an organization capable of delivering both project-based and long-term Federal services engagements. 
• Develop career paths, training programs, certification strategies, and leadership development for delivery personnel. 
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, customer success, and continuous improvement. 
• Ensure appropriate utilization and workforce planning across all delivery resources.

Develop a Strategic Partner Ecosystem

• Build and manage a nationwide network of cleared subcontractors and specialized Federal service providers. 
• Develop strategic relationships with OEM professional services organizations and implementation partners. 
• Evaluate partner capabilities, performance, and capacity to support Federal opportunities. 
• Negotiate subcontracting relationships and establish preferred delivery partnerships. 
• Ensure Paragon maintains the flexibility to scale delivery resources based on customer demand.

Grow Federal Services Revenue

• Develop strategies that increase services attachment rates to product sales. 
• Expand recurring revenue through staff augmentation, resident engineering, and managed services offerings. 
• Create profitable professional services offerings supporting infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI, cloud, collaboration, networking, data center, and emerging technologies. 
• Identify new revenue opportunities within existing Federal customers. 
• Support business development initiatives that position Paragon as both a technology reseller and trusted services provider.

Capture & Proposal Leadership

• Partner with Sales, Capture Managers, Proposal Teams, and Solution Architects to develop winning Federal proposals. 
• Develop labor strategies, staffing plans, transition approaches, and delivery methodologies for competitive pursuits. 
• Review Statements of Work, staffing assumptions, pricing strategies, and technical delivery plans. 
• Participate in customer presentations, technical discussions, oral presentations, and executive briefings. 
• Help develop differentiated services offerings that improve competitive positioning. 

Delivery Excellence

• Establish delivery standards, governance, quality assurance processes, and operational metrics. 
• Ensure consistent execution across all customer engagements. 
• Drive customer satisfaction through exceptional delivery performance. 
• Develop lessons learned, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives. 
• Resolve executive-level delivery challenges and customer escalations. 

Financial & Operational Management

• Own the financial performance of the Federal Services Practice. 
• Develop annual budgets, forecasts, utilization targets, and growth plans. 
• Monitor services gross margin, billable utilization, subcontractor costs, and operational efficiency. 
• Develop pricing strategies that balance competitiveness with profitability. 
• Build executive dashboards and KPIs measuring organizational performance.

Requirements:

Required

• Active Top Secret security clearance.
• SCI eligibility strongly preferred. 
• 15+ years of experience leading Federal IT services organizations supporting DoD, Intelligence Community, and Civilian agencies. 
• Demonstrated success building and scaling a Federal Professional Services Practice within a VAR, systems integrator, OEM, or Federal contractor. 
• Proven experience recruiting, developing, and leading consulting engineers, solution architects, project managers, and technical delivery organizations. 
• Experience developing nationwide subcontractor networks and strategic delivery partnerships. 
• Experience supporting both project-based professional services and long-term staffing ("butts in seats") engagements. 
• Experience supporting Capture, Proposal, and Business Development organizations on Federal opportunities. 
• Strong understanding of Federal procurement, contracting, and acquisition processes. 
• Experience managing operational performance, utilization, services gross margin, forecasting, and financial planning. 
• Exceptional executive communication and customer relationship skills. 
• Willingness to travel as required.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.

Preferred

• Experience supporting major Federal contract vehicles including SEWP, ITES, GSA MAS, or similar GWACs and IDIQs. 
• Experience leading services organizations supporting Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, VMware, HPE, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, or comparable enterprise technologies. 
• PMP, ITIL, CISSP, CCIE, Azure, AWS, or other relevant technical certifications. 
• Experience developing managed services organizations. 
• Experience integrating AI-driven automation and modern service delivery methodologies into consulting organizations.

What Success Looks Like

• Within the first 12-24 months, you will have:
• Built a scalable Federal Services organization capable of supporting significant growth. 
• Established a nationwide ecosystem of trusted cleared subcontractors and strategic delivery partners. 
• Recruited and developed a high-performing team of consulting engineers and delivery professionals. 
• Created repeatable Federal service offerings with standardized pricing, methodologies, and delivery frameworks. 
• Increased services attachment rates across Federal product sales. 
• Expanded recurring revenue through staffing, managed services, and strategic services engagements. 
• Improved delivery quality, utilization, customer satisfaction, and services profitability.