Cindy Murphy learned the mission before she ever pitched it. She started as a software development intern at TRW, writing code to solve the kind of problems she would spend the next 25 years helping customers solve. From there came software engineering, program management and portfolio leadership before she moved into growth.
By the time Murphy joined Parsons in fall 2025 as senior vice president of business development for high consequence missions, she had built the solutions, run the programs and sat across the table from the operators defining what the mission needed. Now, she leads growth strategy, customer engagement and capture across the company’s cyber, intelligence, electronic warfare and national security work, after nearly two decades at Northrop Grumman and nine years at CACI.
Here, Murphy discusses her career progression, the personal connection that drew her to national security work and an early-2000s project she launched to get more girls into STEM.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
My career spans more than 25 years supporting national security missions across the IC and DoD. I began as a software development intern at TRW, where I discovered a passion for applying technology to solve complex mission challenges.
Over time, I progressed through software engineering, technical leadership, program management, portfolio management, and executive growth leadership roles. Along the way, I became an early Agile adopter and practitioner, helping organizations modernize software delivery and accelerate mission outcomes.
I spent nearly two decades with Northrop Grumman and nine years with CACI before joining Parsons in Fall 2025. My current role brings together the experiences I’ve gained throughout my career, from building technology solutions and leading complex programs to shaping growth strategies that align emerging capabilities with the nation’s most critical mission challenges.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I did not begin my career with the goal of becoming a business development executive. My focus was always on solving difficult mission problems and contributing to national security outcomes. I’ve worked for organizations that invested heavily in my development, providing mentorship, training, and opportunities to take on increasingly complex technical, operational, and leadership responsibilities. Rather than changing companies to find new challenges, I was able to grow within organizations that value continuous learning and professional development.
Looking back, the most influential aspect of my career was the opportunity to work across multiple disciplines, from software engineering and program delivery to portfolio leadership and business development. Those experiences taught me that successful leaders must understand not only what customers need, but how solutions are built, delivered, and sustained.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
Yes. I grew up in a military family, and my father, a retired Navy Cryptologic Technician Technical Master Chief (CTTCM), instilled in me a deep sense of service, integrity, and country-first commitment. He is my hero, and his example gave me a personal appreciation for the importance of supporting those who defend our nation.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
As SVP of Business Development for High Consequence Missions at Parsons, my primary responsibility is positioning the business for long-term, sustainable growth across some of the nation’s most critical national security missions. This includes customer engagement, mission shaping, capture excellence, business development operations, and strategic growth initiatives across cyber, electronic warfare, threat intelligence, and sensor-to-shooter markets.
Our team’s superpower is the combination of trusted customer relationships and deep mission understanding. By staying closely connected to operators and decision-makers, we gain insight into emerging challenges long before they become formal requirements. That understanding allows us to invest ahead of need, align our capabilities with future mission demands, and help customers solve complex problems before they reach a crisis point.
We are focused on pursuing large, strategic opportunities that integrate Parsons’ solutions, products, and mission expertise to deliver greater operational impact. We help identify and realize growth opportunities created through acquisitions, ensuring new technologies and capabilities are aligned to customer needs and mission priorities.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
Long before STEM became a household term, I was passionate about encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. In the early 2000s, I created NerdyGrrlz.com to help girls build confidence, embrace their interests, and pursue their goals while remaining authentically themselves. I wanted young women to know they could be smart, ambitious, and successful without changing who they are.
While my career has evolved in many directions since then, that passion has never changed. I still believe one of the most important things leaders can do is help people see possibilities in themselves that they may not yet see on their own.