About the Role
The Role
As the Operational Posture and Planning SME, you'll serve as the functional authority for deliberate planning support and posture-related planning integration at MARFORPAC G-5. Unlike the Senior Planner role, you won't own daily battle rhythm execution, you intervene where complexity, risk, or ambiguity threatens outcomes. You define the standards, resolve the hardest integration problems, and ensure the branch's most consequential products are decision-ready before they reach senior leaders.
Responsibilities
Define planning-support standards, templates, quality gates, staffing checklists, traceability expectations, and version-control conventions for branch-wide use
Advise government leads on complex planning-support approaches including staffing strategy, integration paths, decision points, and adjudication methods
Perform senior technical review of high-visibility briefs, information papers, and final planning documents to ensure clarity, consistency, and decision-readiness
Resolve the most difficult integration problems, conflicting guidance, misaligned assumptions, incomplete inputs, and recommend defensible tradeoffs and mitigation paths
Translate policy and guidance into actionable planning inputs and posture initiative implications
Strengthen OPT and working group outcomes by shaping narratives, analytical framing, and decision-quality criteria
Coach Senior and junior staff on advanced staff writing, editorial judgment, and staffing discipline through targeted reviews and exemplars
Assess systemic bottlenecks and recommend repeatable improvements to reduce rework and improve first-pass acceptance
Required Qualifications
Master's degree (or equivalent practical experience) in a relevant field
Career level and intermediate level military education (e.g., Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, or service equivalents)
10+ years of deep experience supporting joint/service planning and senior-leader decision support
Demonstrated mastery of JPEC planning forums and staffing dynamics (OPTs, joint planning groups)
Expert capability drafting and editing planning products with strict consistency, traceability, and formatting discipline
Knowledge and application experience in the Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) and Joint Planning Process (JPP)
Must be TS/SCI eligible, ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance with SCI access
Preferred Qualifications
Intermediate or top-level operational planning education (e.g., JAWS, SAMS, MAWS, SAASS, Service and Joint War Colleges, or Fellowships)
Senior PME completion (e.g., CGSC/ILE, USMC CSC, Naval/Air War College equivalents)
Prior experience with USINDOPACOM, MARFORPAC, HQMC, a combatant command, Service component, or MEF HQ
Doctoral degree in a relevant field
Compensation & Benefits
Salary: $110,000–$130,000 annually
Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, and 401(k)
Location: Camp Smith, MARFORPAC
K2 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This is an immediate opening.
Salary
$110,000 - $130,000 per year
Requirements
Required Qualifications
Master's degree (or equivalent practical experience) in a relevant field
Career level and intermediate level military education (e.g., Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, or service equivalents)
10+ years of deep experience supporting joint/service planning and senior-leader decision support
Demonstrated mastery of JPEC planning forums and staffing dynamics (OPTs, joint planning groups)
Expert capability drafting and editing planning products with strict consistency, traceability, and formatting discipline
Knowledge and application experience in the Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) and Joint Planning Process (JPP)
Must be TS/SCI eligible, ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance with SCI access
Preferred Qualifications
Intermediate or top-level operational planning education (e.g., JAWS, SAMS, MAWS, SAASS, Service and Joint War Colleges, or Fellowships)
Senior PME completion (e.g., CGSC/ILE, USMC CSC, Naval/Air War College equivalents)
Prior experience with USINDOPACOM, MARFORPAC, HQMC, a combatant command, Service component, or MEF HQ
Doctoral degree in a relevant field
About the Company
About K2
K2 brings world-class leadership to the federal arena, uniting decades of government, military, and private-sector experience to deliver complex, high-impact programs with precision. As a Top Secret facility cleared organization, our senior team has led programs at the highest levels, managed major federal initiatives, and driven private-sector innovation, accelerating mission outcomes and elevating federal performance. K2 is an SBA-certified 8(a) Native Hawaiian Organization.