HX5 operates in a corner of the defense industry where precision matters as much as scale. The company employs roughly 1,000 people across more than 20 states and over 70 government locations, supporting Department of Defense and NASA missions in research and development, engineering, information technology, and mission operations. At the top of that organization sits Margarita Howard, a service-disabled Air Force veteran whose background continues to shape how the company operates.

HX5 is registered as a service-disabled veteran-owned and women-owned small business, designations that reflect both Margarita Howard’s history and the company’s approach to hiring. Contract work spans advanced weapons research, production readiness reviews for sensor systems, and modeling and simulation for defense and space programs, all areas that depend on employees comfortable with clearance requirements and government operational standards.

Veteran Hiring as an Operating Principle

Since 2021, HX5 has hosted eight fellows through the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program, holding steady at two fellows per year. That consistency runs counter to how some smaller contractors approach veteran hiring, often scaling participation up or down based on immediate staffing gaps rather than treating it as an ongoing commitment.

Howard credits her own transition out of the military, followed by bachelor’s and master’s degrees and work implementing the Tricare health program for the Defense Department, with giving her insight into how contractors and government agencies coordinate. That background informs HX5’s preference for hiring professionals with prior Department of Defense or NASA experience, people who already understand the operational environment HX5 works within.

“Experience in their respective fields, while supporting these agencies’ respective programs and missions, is very different from experience gained from working in the commercial world,” Howard says, summarizing why that prior experience carries so much weight in how HX5 builds its teams. Refer to this article for additional information.

Find more information about Margarita Howard on https://www.youngupstarts.com/2025/01/10/how-hx5-and-margarita-howard-stay-ahead-in-government-contracting-as-a-women-owned-firm/