ManTech Q+A Employee Spotlight – Josh
Name: Josh
Title: Senior Executive Director – Enterprise Strategic Pursuits
Group: Corporate Growth
Time at ManTech: 10+ years
Job Description: I support the Corporate Growth Organization reporting to the Vice President of Strategic Pursuits, where I am developing and managing the capture playbook and corresponding training and curriculum. I will also support the development and leadership of strategic pursuit capture teams while leading capture activities for other important opportunities and key re-competes.
What drew you to ManTech?
I was working for a small business that, while I was extremely grateful to have worked for, I knew didn’t have the opportunities or structure in place to provide opportunity for career advancement. I applied to multiple companies, but ManTech was the company that gave me an opportunity and looked at the attitude and aptitude of the person instead of just the resume. I was immediately hooked and have been here ever since.
What are you passionate about?
Impact… Meaningful, messy, disruptive, powerful, and positive impact. I am also passionate about finding my limits and then doing everything I can to push beyond them. Can’t is a lazy word, fear is a choice, and complacency is a killer.
What do you like most about ManTech?
I love ManTech because they gave me a chance when nobody else did. I was given an opportunity and have always had thoughtful, encouraging, and passionate leadership/mentorship. I have literally never been told no when wanting to learn a new skill, try something new, go for a certification, or share an opinion or an idea with a superior. I have never worked for an organization that was so accommodating to new ideas and constructive feedback.
What is or has been the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
I have had a couple; one was as a reserve deputy sheriff. I gained some of the best training I have or will ever had because of that role and saw some strange, cool, and terrible things. The other was as a Victim’s Advocate/Paralegal for the Denver City Attorney’s Office and an intern with the Colorado Public Defender’s Office… at the same time. I saw both sides of the spectrum sometimes simultaneously, very interesting.
How do you balance career and home life?
“Work-Life balance” depends on your definition of balance. What is important to you as an individual is a major part of that equation. For me, I keep my promises to my boys and my wife first and foremost. I also know there are 24 hours in a day, if you really want to do something meaningful or accomplish great things, you need to be dynamic about the way you allocate time in a day.
What advice do you have for prospective ManTech candidates?
I have had seven different jobs at ManTech.
I was a construction lead for a facility being built spending 10+ hours a day in the dust and grime of a construction zone. I moved on to become the CSSO of that same facility, then on a program as a development project lead for a tool that was developed and delivered into operations (still in operations today), took over business and facility operations for that same facility and program after a RIF, and then into business development and capture.
During all of this I earned a Masters degree in Cybersecurity - Information Assurance, MBA, PMP, ITPM, SA, among other things all paid for by ManTech.
If that isn’t a great career story, I don’t know what is. My story can be anyone’s with the right attitude and passion for learning and pushing beyond what you perceive your personal limits to be. Never be afraid to ask, the answer is always no until you do.
You will not find another company our size that has the small family feel and dedication to personal and professional development that ManTech has. It is genuinely a wonderful place to work, and I am proud to say I never want to leave.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
I don’t have one favorite… A few of the places on the top of my list are Fenway Park, The Broadmoor, The Lincoln Memorial, Hilton Head, SC, Killington, VT.
Who is your superhero and why?
My oldest son Lincoln. When he was 8 weeks old, my wife was in a head-on collision they both survived. When he was born, he had severe jaundice and at one point weighed only 5.2 pounds, he survived. He struggled to gain weight the whole first year of his life, he was sick nearly all the time but got through it and never fussed about it.
When he was 18 months old he had (what is now believed) to be one of the first pediatric cases of COVID-19 in the State of Colorado. It nearly killed him and at one point he had to be transported from one ICU to another one with specialized care, he survived all of that. During all of that, he never whined, complained, felt sorry for himself or gave up. Today, he is the smartest, sweetest, most compassionate, and strong young men I have ever met. He is a model for his baby brother, one of my “whys,” and the reason I push so hard all the time.
What is the coolest thing about what you’re working on now?
Developing the ideas, solutions, and technologies that will change the way we support our customers and revolutionize our collective national capabilities.
What does Securing the Future® mean to you?
Our industry affords us the opportunity to work on missions that literally impact the security of our nation. Securing the future isn’t just a tag line, it is a way of thinking, a call to action, and a promise to protect our country and give our children and future generations a better, safer world than we have today.