Chief Engineer, Defensive Cyber Operations

About the role

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future. The Defensive Cyber Operations Department focuses on threat hunting, detection engineering and analytics, Security Operations Centers (SOCs), malware analysis, cyber deception, and adversary engagement, with an increasing emphasis of applying autonomous solutions to these capabilities. The department applies these capabilities to many varied sponsors across the MITRE Public Sector and the MITRE National Security Sector, developing mission-relevant solutions and maturing reusable methods, tools, and platforms.

Responsibilities

• Technical Quality and Impact – Lead technical quality efforts and contribute to development/adoption of technical quality standards within key department work programs and department-managed labs/capabilities. Drive technical quality across the department’s technical areas by leading capability development, including strategic investment recommendations, stewardship of physical & virtual infrastructure (as applicable), and curating technical development and mentorship opportunities. Collaborate with the Division CE, peer CEs, and partners in MNS and MPS to ensure technical strength of the work program by shaping content via participation in technical product definition and reviews, setting expectations for current work and the future work program, and bringing a perspective grounded in technical domain knowledge and understanding of state of the art.
• Work Program Collaboration – Build and maintain awareness of technical work, capabilities, processes, and expertise across sponsor missions to identify opportunities for appropriate reuse and collaboration. Connect work programs, project teams, and SMEs working on related technical challenges to reduce unnecessary duplication and accelerate delivery of proven approaches. Identify opportunities to adapt and transition capabilities, methods, and lessons learned across sponsor environments while respecting sponsor equities, sensitivities, authorities, and information-sharing constraints. Facilitate cross-mission technical exchanges that enable teams to learn from one another, surface common challenges, and identify opportunities for shared investment or coordinated capability development. Serve as a bridge between department technical leadership and work program leadership to ensure emerging sponsor needs inform department strategy, capability development, and internal research priorities.
• Strategy Development & Innovation – Execute and evolve department technical strategy aligned to MITRE’s S&T and Division technical strategies; identify opportunities to develop new areas and assess technical strengths/weaknesses within the department scope. Identify innovation opportunities for department work programs and internal research and development; propose and/or lead cross-cutting initiatives as needed. Develop and maintain relationships with key technical leaders across MITRE program divisions, internal research and development, and external partners. Coordinate technical outreach to industry, academia, and other stakeholders to ensure best practices and relevant technologies are incorporated into technical products. Lead cross-Department and/or cross-Division technical initiatives, as needed, with measurable impact.
• Capability Stewardship & Governance – Conduct ongoing health and quality evaluations of department capabilities, including robustness of staff technical skills, department-managed facilities & infrastructure, mission-ready technology, platforms & frameworks, etc. Provide timely recommendations to Division leadership regarding standup, sustainment, or retirement of department labs, infrastructure, tools, and frameworks supporting leading-edge delivery.
• Staff Development (non-supervisory, but accountable for technical mentorship) – Mentor and develop technical staff, including cultivating technical career paths within the department and across the division. Provide input to talent assessment and staff development planning.
• Direct Sponsor / Program Contributions – Provide individual, differentiated technical contributions directly to sponsors and internal customers, focusing on technical leadership with measurable impact in Security Operations Centers (SOCs), threat hunting, detection engineering and analytics, malware analysis, cyber deception and adversary engagement.