Robert S. Rangel To Succeed Gregory Dahlberg As Head Of Lockheed Martin’s Washington Office

A former chief of staff to two defense secretaries and staff director of the House Armed Services Committee under three chairmen has been named to succeed Gregory R. Dahlberg as head of Lockheed Martin’s Washington Office. Robert S. Rangel, 55, will oversee all facets of company lobbying, marketing and outreach in Washington for the world’s biggest defense company. Lockheed Martin, which is expected to generate $45 billion in sales this year, derives about seven in eight revenue dollars from domestic and foreign military sales. In addition, it has extensive business with civil agencies of the federal government and a growing commercial business in industries regulated by Washington such as energy.

Rangel joined Lockheed Martin in 2011 and is currently Vice President, Programs & Global Security Policy — a complex position responsible for coordinating corporate strategy concerning major programs, identifying international business opportunities, and managing strategic interactions with think tanks. Rangel was already well known in Washington for his work at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill when he joined Lockheed Martin, and has been widely seen within the company as the heir apparent to Dahlberg in the Senior Vice President’s position atop the sprawling Washington Office. Lockheed Martin is so big that it needs to book over $120 million in new sales per day just to sustain its current revenue level, and most of that money originates in Washington.

Starting January 1, it will be Rangel’s job to keep the money flowing, which means interacting constantly with members of Congress, committee staffers and senior political appointees at a dozen departments and agencies. Rangel is expected to continue Dahlberg’s style in executing his new responsibilities, which has stressed openness, inclusiveness and avoidance of partisanship (Dahlberg is a Democrat, Rangel a Republican). Dahlberg, 63, served as Under Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Army before coming to Lockheed Martin, after a 20-year career as a congressional staffer that saw him rise to become one of the most influential behind-the-scenes shapers of the annual defense appropriations bill. He served for six years as Vice President of Legislative Affairs in the Washington Office before ascending to the top job in 2009.

In a business where billions of dollars are frequently at stake, Lockheed Martin has generally outperformed other first-tier defense companies in keeping its big federal programs funded. Despite withering criticism of efforts like the F-35 fighter and Space Based Infrared System (a missile-warning satellite constellation), the company has not only kept its programs sold but in the end proven the soundness of its design and engineering approach. A key part of Mr. Rangel’s job will be shepherding such programs through the annual budgeting process, which often entails convincing skeptics that a program really is needed, and will perform up to expectations. That task requires a special combination of political acumen, analytic insight, and inter-personal skills. It is one of the most important jobs in any defense company, and finding people who can do it well is not easy.