Department Head, Autonomy and Emerging Technology

About the role

The Systems and Emerging Capabilities Division in the Undersea Systems Office (USO) at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) is seeking a Department Head for Autonomy and Emerging Technology (AET). This position is fully on‑site in State College, PA, with periodic travel to remote locations. The AET Department develops, tests, and evaluates emerging capabilities in the Subsea and Seabed (SSW) mission area and rapidly evaluates and fields new SSW‑applicable systems, payloads, and software. Research areas include autonomy for unmanned vehicles (UxVs) – architectures, behaviors, mission planning, and standards that improve reliability, endurance, and effectiveness in challenging maritime environments – as well as payloads/payload delivery, sensor integration, and navigation. ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes transitioning military members.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership – Lead innovation in the SSW mission area, including autonomy for UxVs (adaptive mission behaviors, environmental awareness, distributed autonomy, multi‑vehicle coordination, integration of autonomy with UxV sensors and payloads); drive advancements in UxV simulation, field testing, and fleet‑relevant autonomy capabilities.
• Programmatic Leadership – Oversee SSW‑focused UxV programs and multidisciplinary teams working across undersea navigation, endurance optimization, acoustic communications, environmental modeling, and autonomy‑enabled CONOPS; collaborate closely with ARL’s SSW Portfolio Manager and sponsors to shape new SSW research directions.
• Resource Management – Align personnel and technical resources (UxV test assets, autonomy laboratories, software infrastructure, field test facilities) with program needs and strategic priorities.
• Personnel Management – Mentor engineers and researchers specializing in UxV autonomy, control systems, undersea sensing, navigation, and environmental modeling; foster growth in mission‑focused undersea autonomy competencies.
• Department Management – Ensure effective planning and execution of programs involving system integration, sea testing, autonomy software development, mission simulation and evaluation, and cross‑domain unmanned systems collaboration.
• Collaboration – Work across ARL departments to integrate autonomy with undersea vehicles, sensors, communications, and emerging technologies; partner with oceanography, acoustics, guidance & control, and materials experts to develop next‑generation UxV capabilities.
• New Business – Entrepreneurially work with the SSW Portfolio manager to create and shape new UxV autonomy research opportunities; help develop seedling efforts in long‑duration UxV autonomy, autonomous behaviors for complex missions, resilient undersea communications autonomy, and cross‑domain unmanned vehicle coordination.
• Customer Interaction – Engage directly with Navy sponsors, DoD collaborators, and other stakeholders to present UxV autonomy advancements, field‑test results, and new capability concepts; represent ARL at autonomy and undersea systems conferences and technical reviews.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Top Secret level or higher, or ability to obtain such clearance; may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility if required.
• Successful completion of University background check(s) in accordance with University policies.