Darryl Peek on working for the public sector at Elastic

Darryl Peek has always supported the public sector — his career has taken him to various private and public enterprises within a public sector team. Darryl’s family has a long history of military service — his brother was in the US Navy, his father was an airman, and his grandfathers were in the US Army. He joined Lockheed Martin, his first job out of college, for that reason. Darryl held a technical role there, supporting classified projects for the US government. 

“I valued helping military personnel be safe in conflict and have more insights and transparency,” Darryl says. “It was an amazing experience.”

That role led Darryl to pursue a masters degree in computer and systems engineering. Upon graduation, he moved to the Washington, DC area where he worked for a company supporting national security, financial services and foreign affairs agencies. 

He also took on an extracurricular role of social chair where he engaged non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to start to learn about the benefits of public private partnerships. 

While there, Darryl supported various projects with the State Department. One of the government executives there suggested he move into a true public sector role — supporting the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program within the Department of Homeland Security. 

He made the jump and worked on the CDM Program, which is now built on Elastic® technology.Years later, while searching for his next opportunity, Darryl came across a company he had partnered with periodically throughout his career: Elastic.

“I was impressed by what they do, but also by the Source Code and innovation,” Darryl says. “I was aligned with the mission to enhance the customer experience and secure customer networks.”

Now, he’s the Senior Director of Public Sector Channels and Alliances (FED & SLED). In this role at Elastic, Darryl is focused on strategic outcomes for public sector partners. He spends time with Elastic’s current partners and also potential partners who want to learn more about working with Elastic. 

“I network with a lot of executives to evangelize the value proposition of Elastic,” he says. 

Darryl’s team is made up of partner executives who work with the sales team to help develop partnership strategies and work with partners — whether that’s managed service providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), or distributors — to create plans for success. 

It’s these three types of partners that allow Elastic to do work with the government, Darryl says. “We work with those partners to help government agencies better support citizens and our nation. We work closely with partners to identify opportunities that align with the Elastic capabilities and use cases.”

“I am a big fan of the tech [at Elastic],” Darryl says. “I’m a big proponent of the problems we solve around experience and security. We are all working to help transform government agencies.” 

Besides Darryl’s job responsibilities, he also engages with employee resource groups (ERGs) and attends networking events — he has always been involved in a company’s social and employee-led activities. 

His goal is to make an impact and influence and share information with others to advance the government and public private partnerships. 

His advice for entering the public sector or a supporting role? 

“Double down on transferrable skills and what uniqueness you bring to the organization,” Darryl says. “And have a passion for public service, have a passion for improving government but also enhancing the citizen experience.”

Upon joining Elastic, Darryl met with everyone to understand their story, he said. 

“I wanted to understand the baseline of where the organization was and who the people are that make it up,” he says. “I wanted to understand the strategy of the office, team, and organization to see how I fit.”

He recommends others joining Elastic to do the same. “See how you fit in. Lean in and execute at a high level. Provide feedback on how things can improve, and be open to improvements of yourself and for the organization.” 

Interested in working at Elastic? Check out open roles. 

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