TEAM / Jonathan “Joe” Owen
Jonathan “Joe” Owen joined The Southern Group in 2026, bringing more than three decades of leadership experience spanning national security, homeland defense, intelligence, diplomacy, emergency management, and private-sector strategy. Throughout his career, he has advised senior government leaders, directed complex interagency initiatives, and helped organizations navigate some of the nation’s most significant security and policy challenges.
Most recently, Joe served as Senior Advisor to the Administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he advised agency leadership during a period of major institutional reform and national disaster response. He led initiatives focused on disaster governance modernization, federal emergency management policy, regulatory reform, congressional engagement, and resilience investments.
Prior to FEMA, Joe served twice as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense Integration and Defense Support to Civil Authorities, he oversaw homeland defense policy, continuity of government planning, domestic military integration, and interagency preparedness efforts. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where he helped advance U.S. defense and security priorities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including negotiations involving strategic access, regional security cooperation, and defense acquisition partnerships.
Joe’s federal service also includes senior leadership roles at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he directed national preparedness, continuity, and resilience programs, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where he led sensitive interagency initiatives on behalf of the Director of National Intelligence.
Earlier in his career, Joe served as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. During assignments across the globe, he conducted counterintelligence investigations, led protective security operations, and served with the Department’s elite Mobile Security Deployments counterterrorism unit. His service earned numerous recognitions, including the Secretary of State Award for Heroism.
In the private sector, Joe is the founder and president of Owen Defense & Security Solutions, a strategic advisory firm focused on political risk, national security, defense industrial strategy, government market expansion, and emerging technologies. Through his work, he advises corporations, investors, and allied partners on navigating complex geopolitical environments, federal policy, defense acquisition, and homeland security opportunities.
Joe has also held executive leadership positions in critical infrastructure and technology sectors, including serving as Vice President of Government Programs for a national data center company, where he built and led federal, state, and local government business development initiatives. His private-sector experience spans business growth, strategic partnerships, advanced manufacturing, critical infrastructure resilience, and public-private collaboration.
A combat-decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Joe served as an infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan and later as a Marine Corps intelligence officer in the reserves. He earned a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts from The George Washington University, graduating summa cum laude from both institutions. Joe is also the author of #Fail: Why the U.S. Lost the War in Afghanistan.