Denise is a senior executive leader with more than 30 years of experience in corporate operations, strategic growth, business development, and Department of Defense program leadership across the aerospace, defense, and federal services industries. She currently serves as Facility Security Officer (FSO), Corporate Program Support, and Business Development/Strategy executive at ACET, where she leads corporate security functions, operational execution, and strategic growth initiatives supporting the company’s expansion in the federal marketplace.

Denise brings a distinguished record of driving enterprise growth and mission success across highly complex defense and national security environments. She has led and supported business development and capture efforts associated with more than $4.6 billion in Department of Defense programs, with deep expertise in Integrated Air and Missile Defense, combat systems, radar systems, weapons systems, and large-scale mission sustainment and modernization portfolios. Her work has consistently focused on aligning customer mission requirements with executable growth strategies, competitive positioning, and long-term organizational success.

Prior to her current role at ACET, served as a Senior Business Development and Capture Manager with Lockheed Martin, where she led strategic growth initiatives for the Naval Combat and Missile Defense Systems portfolio. In this capacity, she directed capture strategy, customer engagement, competitive assessments, workforce planning, pricing strategy, and investment prioritization across multiple major defense programs, while partnering across engineering, program management, contracts, finance, and executive leadership teams to advance enterprise objectives.  Denise also served as Strategic and Mission Planning Lead with Lockheed Martin supporting the US Navy’s land-based Combat Systems Center where she directed the Navy’s Strategic Planning program and efforts as well as provided program and project management.

Earlier in her career, Denise held senior leadership roles within the Department of the Navy and the Missile Defense Agency, where she performed executive acquisition oversight, program management, systems engineering, contract management, and program execution for some of the nation’s most critical Integrated Air and Missile Defense programs. She advised senior Pentagon leadership, oversaw multi-billion-dollar defense portfolios, and led multidisciplinary government and contractor teams responsible for advancing Naval and National missile defense capabilities.

Denise is recognized for her ability to bridge government and industry perspectives, translate complex mission requirements into actionable business strategies, and lead high-performing teams in fast-paced, high-stakes environments. Her leadership approach emphasizes disciplined execution, stakeholder alignment, and mission-focused results.  She brings the same depth of experience and professionalism to ACET, where she has continued to distinguish herself through a combination of strategic insight, results-driven leadership, and a personable approach.

She holds dual Master of Science degrees in Systems Engineering and Technical Management from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with a dual major in Ocean Engineering from Virginia Tech.