Winning Leidos’ latest contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency provides yet another opportunity for the company to deliver better efficiency and performance to the Defense Department’s digital infrastructure—a critical current need.
That’s according to Leidos’ defense growth and integration executive Daniel Voce, who oversaw efforts to capture the $11.5 billion DISA Defense Enclave Services proposal the company won earlier this year.
The multi-year contract will consolidate DOD’s sprawling networks across multiple support agencies into a common network of shared service providers.
“There is a strong focus on migration, network modernization and, of course, operations and resilience,” says Voce. “At Leidos, we have a lot of experience with network migrations.”
Leidos recently migrated over a million users to new networks, equipping the company with new experience and lessons learned.
“We have an understanding of all the differences that can exist across different networks,” Voce says.
He adds that Leidos is purpose-built to address the size, scale and scope of programs like DES through strong program management practices, a robust talent acquisition practice and a horizontal technology capability under the Leidos Office of Technology. Plus, the company has executed large-scale digital modernization programs at DISA, the Navy, NASA and other federal agencies.
“DES will provide a common way of doing IT across these defense agencies, and we will apply our lessons learned to meet those goals,” Voce says.
This win also represents Leidos’ commitment and dedication to its mission, which starts at the company’s leadership level and flows down.
“We constantly stand behind the mission and our corporation never hesitates to provide resources to help our programs and clients,” says Voce. “It’s not always a measurable value, but it’s a value that’s critical to being the right partner.”
Increase profits and people
This protection 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 propositions are compelling and meet customer requirements. He is also focused on integration, ensuring that existing programs are performing according to customer expectations and leveraging the full capabilities of Leidos by supporting program managers.
“Being able to help them see the full breadth of the corporation that they might not always see every day, whether it’s in technology, people or available resources, is really a critical thing for our company as we move forward to grow,” says Voce. .
Growth is one of Voce’s main motivators. He is passionate about supporting the growth of Leidos as well as the growth of people’s jobs within the company. The DES contract fulfills both of these passions.
“There’s nothing better than growing the company and the missions we support,” says Voce, “but also opening doors for hundreds of Leidos employees and partner employees to improve their skills and accelerate their careers.”
And personally, working around motivated, driven people pushes Voce to his position as well.
“I’ve seen a lot of great leaders come out of programs like DES,” he says. “There’s nothing like working on a large-scale digital program like this.”
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 moved into executive management, he didn’t have much time to immerse himself in technology.
“It’s no longer a luxury of mine, but I get to work with engineers,” he says. “I have that focus. That’s certainly motivating for me.”
His affinity for STEM-related fields started early. As an undergraduate, he studied computer science and mathematics at the State University of New York College in Potsdam. After graduating, he became a software developer at a large corporation, where he wrote embedded software for network controllers. Shortly thereafter, he pursued a graduate degree in mathematics and eventually earned his doctorate from the University of Albany SUNY.
He then took his educational and industry experience to the satellite field, developing algorithms for satellite to processor 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 associate for Lockheed and then as technical director for enterprise IT solutions, and program director for the DISA portfolio.
It was during his time at Lockheed that he began working on new business activities and proposals.
“I found that work extremely interesting and personally satisfying as well,” says Voce. “It’s really rewarding to know you’re part of a hardworking team that’s focused on growing the company and creating new jobs and career opportunities for people.”
Voce moved from engineering to management at Lockheed, and eventually, his business unit within Lockheed was acquired by Leidos in 2016.
“It’s been a big transition since then,” he says.
This led to his previous 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 protect global DOD networks and systems.
He and his team have almost tripled the size of their business in five years and created a large number of career-enhancing jobs for employees in the next decade.
“Having the ability to run that business and grow it has just been a fantastic experience,” Voce says. “I am very excited to see the next generation of Leidos leaders coming out of these programs.”
A continuous growth trajectory
Leidos’ defense business has grown significantly over the past five years, but Voce sees an even greater opportunity to be the partner of choice for federal and international customers.
“There’s a lot ahead of us in how we organize our technologies and implement them for our customers, there’s great opportunity there and I’m very happy to be involved and help lead the charge,” Voce says.
And given that it measures growth in both business success and the workforce, it defines personal growth as helping some of Leidos’ top executives today lead the company into the future.
“I think the next generation of Leidos leaders already exists within the company,” says Voce, “and being able to support and guide them is one of my top personal goals moving forward.”
