Heidrick and Struggles Scope Increase JA_Final_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF WAR

WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES

1155 DEFENSE PENTAGON

WASHINGTON, DC 20301-1155

ACQUISITIONDIRECTORATE

1. AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY: The Contracting Activity is the Department of War (DoW)1, Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), Acquisition Directorate (AD), Enterprise Security Services Directorate (ESSD). The Requiring Agency is the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW).

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: The modification increases the scope of the original contract for identifying and vetting private sector leaders to address critical challenges within the DoW. The modified scope adds executive sourcing services to additional critical DoW programs and services, such as real estate, infrastructure optimization (FRMS), construction (MILCON), business systems and IT, personnel management, contracting/finance, schools, and commissaries. This action increases the price of the original sole-source, firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract by $4,060,000.00, from $2,316,000 to $6,376,000. The contract was awarded to the contractor Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (H&S) on September 18, 2025. Given the complexity and urgency of this effort, time is of the essence.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The contract for Private Sector Leadership Engagement Support Services for the OSW requires H&S to find top-tier private sector leaders with proven success in relevant industries to address the most critical challenges in areas such as shipbuilding, submarine industrial base, autonomous systems, munitions production, and healthcare. Leaders sourced by H&S will provide strategic guidance and actionable recommendations to modernize systems, optimize resource utilization, and enhance operational effectiveness.

H&S is required to identify and vet a panel of highly qualified private sector leaders with specialized expertise as follows:

Programs: Identify leaders with expertise in Shipbuilding, Submarine Industrial Base, Autonomous Systems (Air, Marine, and Ground), Munitions Production, and the Ground Segment of Sentinel.

Services: Source experts in Health Care, Real Estate, Infrastructure (FRMS), 1 Statutorily referred to as the Department of Defense, 10 U.S.C. § 111.

Construction (MILCON), Business Systems and IT, Personnel Management, Contracting/Finance, Schools, and Commissaries.

Engagement with DoD Leadership: Work closely with DoD leadership, including the Director, Administration & Management (A&M), Deputy Secretary of War, Under Secretaries, and Secretaries, to define targeted experience and expertise for BOND profiles. Gain a deep understanding of the specific relevance of each agreed-upon experience set, identifying critical nuances in knowledge and operational experience to ensure the selection of compelling BOND candidates.

Recruitment Methodology: Leverage a combination of industry outreach, executive search databases, professional networks, and targeted recruitment strategies to identify and evaluate top-tier candidates. Focus on sourcing executives with expertise in AI adoption, digital transformation, and scaling emerging capabilities, such as uncrewed vehicles.

The modification is necessary to address additional urgent challenges within the DoW, such as fragile supply chains, modernization efforts, and congressional divestiture mandates. It also includes sourcing experts in AI adoption, digital transformation, and scaling emerging capabilities like uncrewed vehicles. This expanded effort is essential to ensure the DoD can address its most pressing challenges and achieve its mission-critical objectives effectively and efficiently.

Period of Performance Amount September 17, 2025 April 17, 2026 $4,060,000.00

4. AUTHORITY CITED: This action is authorized under 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(2) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2, "Unusual and Compelling Urgency."

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED: The unusual and compelling urgency surrounding the increase in the contract price is directly tied to the expanded scope of work required to address newly identified and critical challenges facing the DoW. While the original contract addressed urgent needs for executive recruitment and leadership engagement, the evolving geopolitical landscape and emerging threats necessitate an immediate expansion of services to ensure the DoW can respond effectively to these challenges.

Specifically, the increase in scope is driven by the need to address additional areas of concern, including fragile supply chains, modernization efforts, and congressional divestiture mandates. These challenges have intensified due to recent developments, such

(PRC), and vulnerabilities in critical defense infrastructure. Delays in addressing these issues would exacerbate inefficiencies, increase costs, and elevate risks to national defense and security.

The expanded scope includes sourcing private sector leaders with expertise in areas such as shipbuilding, submarine industrial base, autonomous systems, munitions production, healthcare, real estate, infrastructure optimization, and AI adoption. These leaders are essential to providing actionable recommendations and strategic guidance to modernize systems, optimize resource utilization, and enhance operational effectiveness. Without the immediate increase in contract value, the DoD would be unable to secure the specialized expertise required to address these urgent priorities, resulting in degraded readiness, mission failure, and increased risks to personnel and national security.

The urgency of this requirement is compounded by the DoD legacy systems and reinvest in high-priority mission areas. Conducting a full and open competition for the expanded scope would result in unacceptable delays, allowing adversaries to exploit existing vulnerabilities in operations, supply chains, or technological systems. Awarding this contract modification without delay is essential to and efficiently.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: Given the critical operational challenges and the unacceptable risks to national security, the DoW requires a rapid response solution. A full and open competition for a requirement of this magnitude, valued between $700,000.00 and $7,000,000.00, typically requires a Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT)of 120 days. This includes 30 days for market research, 45 days for proposal submission and evaluation, and 45 days for award and contract negotiation.

While some steps could be expedited, such as reducing the market research period to 15 days or employing streamlined evaluation techniques, even an accelerated process would require a minimum of 75 90 days. Leveraging pre-existing contracts through a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) could reduce the timeline to approximately 90 days, but this remains insufficient given the immediate threats from adversaries. Therefore, a non-competitive procurement is necessary to ensure timely delivery of this critical capability.

7. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION: The contracting officer will determine that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable by using the techniques identified at FAR 13.106-3, specifically, FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vi), to ensure the award will be at a fair and reasonable price. Certified Cost and Pricing Data will not be obtained.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research was conducted to identify potential

Russell Reynolds Associates, Heidrick & Struggles, Spencer Stuart, and Egon Zehnder.

However, the critical nature of the operational need and the exceptionally tight timeframe driven by immediate threats posed by both state and nonstate actors to the Homeland and U.S. national interests precludes conducting comprehensive market research. Engaging multiple vendors to assess potential solutions would consume valuable tim timeframe.

The specific technical requirements for this effort are highly specialized and demand expertise in recruiting for advanced technical roles within the DoW, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, and weapons systems development. This requires a deep understanding of relevant technologies, skill sets, and the defense industry landscape, including organizational structures, key players, and current challenges. Heidrick & Struggles has demonstrated their unique ability to meet these requirements, possessing the necessary expertise and proven capability to deliver a validated their ability to provide the required support effectively and efficiently.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF SOLE SOURCE: Failure to award this contract to Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. would result in significant delays in addressing critical challenges facing the Department of War (DoW). Such delays would exacerbate inefficiencies, increase costs, and elevate risks to national defense and security. The urgency of this requirement necessitates immediate action to

Specifically, the rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape most notably the growing demands urgent and comprehensive reform of DoW programs and services. Any delay in implementing these reforms develop the capabilities required to maintain a competitive advantage. Each delay not strategic surprise or shock, further jeopardizing national security.

10. INTERESTED SOURCES: To date, no other sources have expressed an interest in this requirement.

11. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: The DoW will evaluate the outcomes of this effort and explore opportunities to foster competition for similar requirements in the future. Lessons learned from this initiative will inform future acquisition strategies to ensure broader participation.

12. Is this acquisition for a non-competitive follow-on acquisition previously awarded on a non-competitive basis?

Yes. A copy of the previous justification is attached. The actions to remove any barriers to competition cited on the previous justification were were not completed