Heidt Strategic Advisors — Advisory Service
Defense contractors and government-focused businesses benefit from growth advisors with direct senior executive experience in federal contracting. Alex Heidt served as Senior Vice President of Air Force Programs and Business Development at Harris Corporation and Senior Vice President of Navy Programs at Alion Science & Technology — building BD pipelines, executing re-competes, entering new market segments, and running the operations that generate government contract revenue at scale. That is the experience Heidt Strategic Advisors brings to government contracting growth engagements.
Government Contracting Growth Strategy services are provided by Heidt Strategic Advisors and are distinct from and do not constitute legal representation by The Heidt Law Firm, PLLC. Engagement does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Heidt Strategic Advisors approaches growth engagements from the perspective of an executive who has carried the BD function directly. Alex Heidt has been the Senior Vice President of Business Development responsible for setting pipeline targets, allocating pursuit resources, making gate decisions, building teaming strategies, and being accountable for the revenue that resulted.
At Harris Corporation, he built and directed BD operations across Air Force programs and government agencies, managing a pipeline that supported major IDIQ pursuits, re-competes, and new market entry simultaneously. At Alion Science & Technology, he led Navy programs growth through a period of significant contract portfolio expansion. In both cases, the work was operational accountability for the BD function at the Senior Vice President level.
An advisor who has built and run the BD function at major defense contractors can identify what is wrong, what will address it, and how to build the organizational capability to sustain growth — because those decisions have been made directly with real revenue consequences. That is the experience Heidt Strategic Advisors brings to engagements.
That direct experience also shapes how growth problems are diagnosed. The most common government contracting growth shortfalls are not strategy issues — they are execution issues rooted in inadequate pipeline discipline, misallocated pursuit resources, weak customer engagement, and capture processes that begin too late to influence the outcome. An advisor who has managed those issues at scale can identify them quickly and apply approaches that work in practice.
Government contracting growth is not primarily a marketing problem or a proposal writing problem. It is a BD strategy and execution problem — rooted in the decisions made well before a solicitation is released. The most common patterns Heidt Strategic Advisors sees in growth-stalled defense contractors are predictable and fixable.
Heidt Strategic Advisors provides growth strategy advisory across the full range of challenges defense contractors and government-focused businesses face — from pipeline assessment and market entry strategy to re-compete planning and BD organization design.
Selected Growth Results — Executive Career
Led market entry strategy for a major Australian government IT contract pursuit at Lockheed Martin — building customer relationships, contract vehicle access, and competitive positioning from a starting position with no in-country presence.
When a major program faced termination rather than re-compete, flew to forward operating bases and engaged government decision-makers in country directly. The termination notice was resolved and the program continued under expanded scope.
As Senior Vice President of Air Force Programs and Business Development at Harris Corporation, built and directed BD operations across Air Force programs and federal civilian agencies — managing gate reviews, pursuit resource allocation, and capture execution at scale.
As Senior Vice President of Navy Programs at Alion Science & Technology, directed BD and program growth across Navy research and engineering contracts — building the customer relationships and competitive positioning that sustained revenue growth in a highly competitive market segment.
The advisory is built on direct senior executive experience. Alex Heidt has served as Senior Vice President of Business Development at major defense contractors, managing the BD function, setting pipeline targets, allocating pursuit resources, and being accountable for the revenue results. The engagement is grounded in having made the decisions clients are facing and operated with the consequences at the senior executive level.
Effective re-compete strategy typically begins 18 to 24 months before the anticipated solicitation release date. Beginning re-compete preparation 60 to 90 days before the RFP places the contractor at a significant disadvantage relative to competitors who have spent the prior 18 to 24 months shaping the requirement. Incumbent advantage is real but fragile. It requires active defense, continuous customer engagement, and a win strategy that treats the re-compete as a contested competition.
Capture planning is the strategic and tactical work done on a specific opportunity — customer intelligence, competitive assessment, win strategy, teaming, and requirements shaping for a particular contract pursuit. Growth strategy is the broader question of how the company’s BD portfolio is structured, which opportunities to pursue and which to walk away from, how to allocate limited BD resources across a pipeline, and how to build the organizational capabilities required to grow systematically rather than opportunistically. Heidt Strategic Advisors provides both through the BD Pipeline & Capture Planning and Government Contracting Growth Strategy services.
No. Government Contracting Growth Strategy is a business consulting service provided by Heidt Strategic Advisors — not legal representation by The Heidt Law Firm, PLLC. Clients who need legal representation for government contracting matters — FAR compliance, bid protests, contract disputes, or 8(a) and NHO matters — are served by The Heidt Law Firm separately. Many clients engage both practices for related but distinct needs.
Heidt Strategic Advisors works with defense contractors and government-focused businesses across a range of sizes — from small businesses and 8(a) contractors building their first disciplined BD process to mid-size contractors with established but underperforming pipelines looking to accelerate growth in specific market segments. The growth challenges differ by size, but the strategic principles — early customer engagement, disciplined resource allocation, honest competitive assessment, and deliberate market entry — are consistent across the market.
Schedule a strategic consultation with Heidt Strategic Advisors to assess pipeline, identify high-value growth opportunities, and build a BD strategy that supports sustained government contracting growth.
