William Steck

National security professional with 5+ years supporting DoD, IC, and USSOCOM-affiliated organizations — managing defense R&D programs, coordinating across government and industry, and matching technical capabilities to customer requirements. Delivered a $10M+ program portfolio at a 98% on-time, within-budget rate while serving as the primary interface between government customers and R&D teams. Experienced operating in defense-adjacent environments where execution speed, stakeholder trust, and clear communication under ambiguity are what matter.

Chief of Staff / Project Specialist at LANDWERX (2025-04 – Present)

• Manage executive engagements on behalf of the CEO with government agencies, national security firms, industry partners, academic institutions, and VC/PE firms — preparing briefing materials, scheduling meetings, and tracking follow-on action items.
• Identify and qualify new business opportunities within existing and prospective customer relationships; develop proposals and supporting analysis to advance business development conversations.
• Conduct market research across defense, technology, and policy domains to produce decision-ready briefings ahead of key customer and partner meetings.

Head of Special Projects at WIYC TECH (2025-04 – Present)

• Research and synthesize developments across policy, technology, and geopolitics into analytical reports, investor briefings, and project proposals that support business development with national security stakeholders.
• Translate technical and market findings into clear recommendations that support executive decision-making and customer engagement.

Director of Operations & Innovation at Spookstock Foundation (2025-04 – 2026-03)

• Planned and executed Spooktech — a $200,000 national security conference for 240 senior leaders from 120+ organizations including DARPA, DoD, IC, NASA, and DOE — managing the full program lifecycle from kickoff through closeout in six months.
• Managed 15+ vendor contracts end-to-end within budget; served as primary point of contact for government participants, industry sponsors, and academic partners throughout.
• Produced all operational reports, stakeholder briefings, and post-event summaries for executive leadership and government clients.

Associate Program Manager at ICWERX (2024-04 – 2025-04)

• Managed a $10M+ portfolio of DoD/IC RD&E contracts across 6–10 concurrent projects ($100K–$2.5M each) in cyber, autonomy, AI/ML, and power systems — sustaining a 98% on-time, within-budget delivery rate.
• Served as the primary interface between government customers and R&D teams; translated customer requirements into work plans, tracked performance, flagged risks early, and reported status to senior DoD/IC stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Led ~10 project kickoff and review workshops with engineering teams and government end-users; identified new requirements within existing customer relationships and supported opportunity development.
• Led 50+ market research and expert scouting efforts, translating DoD/IC problem statements into structured searches to identify leading solution providers and subject matter experts.

Assistant Program Manager at ICWERX (2022-05 – 2024-04)

• Built an Excel-based program management database and dashboard covering 60+ concurrent projects — integrating cost, schedule, and performance data — and cut the weekly reporting cycle from 8 hours to 2 hours (75% reduction).
• Developed a custom Ecosystem Management tool pulling from 12+ data streams to enrich ~100 stakeholder profiles, cutting expert scouting time by 30%.

Research Support Assistant at SOFWERX (2021-05 – 2022-05)

• Wrote 20+ technical research reports on emerging technology providers for USSOCOM Program Executive Officers, evaluating technical maturity and fit against government requirements.
• Led 40+ scouting sprints to identify solution providers for USSOCOM innovation programs across open-source datasets and commercial databases.

B.A in Global Business – University of South Florida (2022-05)