Space Combat Power Project Leader

About the role

At MITRE, you can tackle our nation's toughest challenges while enjoying a fulfilling work-life balance. As a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, MITRE operates R&D centers for the government, creating lasting impact in fields such as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We offer competitive benefits, professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that values adaptability, collaboration, and technical excellence.

The N181 Space Warfighting Integration Department integrates mission needs, technical capabilities, and sponsor priorities across the national security space enterprise. We deliver mission integration, mission engineering, system-of-systems analysis, architecture and resilience assessments, modeling and simulation, and operational analysis to help sponsors close kill chains, improve combat credibility, and field mission-relevant space capabilities. Our work spans space operations, command and control integration, space combat power, operational test and training, and future force design.

This role primarily supports the Program Acquisition Executives (PAE) for Space Combat Power, PAE for Electronic Warfare and Cyber, including Space Rapid Capabilities Office, and involves other stakeholders such as Space Systems Integration Office (SSIO), Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition (SAF/SQ), and PAE for Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications and Space Intelligence (BMC3I).

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction, execution, staffing, financial management, sponsor engagement, and delivery of a large, multi-sponsor Space Combat Power work program.
• Shape and execute work across orbital warfare, electronic warfare, defensive cyber operations for space, rapid capability development, operational prototyping, and space-based missile defense integration.
• Partner with department and division leadership to align the work program with MITRE strategy, sponsor priorities, and mission outcomes.
• Lead mission engineering, system-of-systems integration, modeling and simulation, and operational analysis to evaluate combat-power effectiveness, close kill-chain gaps, and reduce technical, operational, and acquisition risk.
• Build trusted sponsor relationships through regular engagement, technical interchange, in-person collaboration, and proactive identification of emerging sponsor needs.
• Leverage expertise across MITRE, including MTE, other centers, projects, and geographic sites, to bring the right technical talent, capabilities, and laboratories to complex space warfighting problems.
• Build and sustain a high-performing, geographically dispersed team by mentoring task leaders, supporting staff growth and onboarding, enabling access to tools and environments, and providing performance feedback to supervisors.
• Foster a strong culture of collaboration, accountability, speed, inclusion, belonging, and technical excellence.
• Evolve the team through career training, mentoring, hiring, and onboarding; handle requests for badge, network, and lab access, visit requests, and tool integration.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering (preferably aerospace engineering), physics, operations research, mathematics, or a related technical discipline; or 8 years with a Master of Science degree; or a PhD with 5 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams, tasks, or projects in complex national security environments.
• Technical depth in one or more relevant areas such as orbital warfare, electronic warfare, defensive cyber operations, space systems engineering, modeling and simulation, operational analysis, rapid prototyping, missile defense, fire control, engagement management, satellite design, or system-of-systems integration.
• Experience working with government sponsors and multidisciplinary teams to shape, lead, and deliver technical products that inform operational, acquisition, architecture, test, or fielding decisions.
• Knowledge of rapid capability development, agile acquisition, digital engineering, prototyping, test, and transition approaches for national security systems.
• Strong technical writing, briefing, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to present complex technical topics to senior leaders and non-technical audiences.
• Active DoD Top Secret clearance with ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI and ability to be cleared for SAP access.
• U.S. citizenship required for security clearance eligibility.

This position requires 5 days a week on-site and is anchored in Colorado Springs, CO, Los Angeles, CA, or Albuquerque, NM.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master of Science degree in engineering, physics, operations research, mathematics, or a related technical discipline with 12 years of related experience.
• Three or more years of task, project, or work-program leadership experience, preferably leading multidisciplinary teams across multiple sponsors, locations, or technical domains.
• Experience supporting space combat power, orbital warfare, space electronic warfare, defensive cyber operations for space, space superiority, missile defense, space-based interceptors, or rapid space capability development.
• Experience with mission engineering, system-of-systems engineering, modeling and simulation, operational analysis, digital engineering, architecture analysis, or test and evaluation for complex national security systems.
• Experience evaluating fire control, engagement management, command and control, common ground, interface design, or end-to-end kill-chain performance.
• Understanding of space systems and missions across DoD, the Intelligence Community, civil agencies, and commercial industry.
• Demonstrated strategic space system-of-systems thought leadership.
• Experience in space interagency (USSPACOM, USSF, NRO, NGA, MDA, etc.) operations, capabilities, and C2.
• Experience shaping new work, developing sponsor relationships, and translating sponsor mission needs into executable technical work programs.
• Experience leading or contributing to prototype development, operational demonstrations, technology insertion, transition planning, or rapid fielding of classified capabilities.
• Active DoD TS/SCI clearance and cleared for Special Access Programs.

Pay

Salary compensation range and midpoint: $162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 annual.