Technical Director

Responsibilities

Lead business development activities with new customers and new capabilities, both DoD-wide and commercial.

Assist the Director of Acquisition Strategy and Senior Manager of Business Development in tactical and strategic business development initiatives and objectives.

Direct the management and execution of engineering contracts and studies.

Provide technical and administrative leadership to each directorate.

Work with the MERC chief engineers, technical leads, and program managers to plan, staff, and manage assigned programs according to and in compliance with MERC Standard Processes, to include maintaining an up-to-date detailed programmatic/technical schedule for an assigned contract and managing associated risks.

Support program managers in the oversight of successful execution of assigned programs within budget and scope, and in accordance with program schedule.

Regularly monitor performance and provide coaching for performance improvement and development.

Responsible for training, quarterly feedback, appraisals, safety and security, and mentoring tech leads, chief engineers and program managers.

Conduct monthly/quarterly contract reviews with the executive staff to include the chief engineers, program managers, and technical leads, as required.

Provide monthly manpower projections to the executive staff.

Recruit directorate personnel.

Work in tandem with other technical directors to assign personnel across respective technical areas with the approval of the Sr. Director of Engineering and Programs.

Work with technical leads and chief engineers to identify and track training requirements. Provide input to MERC’s training strategy.

Direct and oversee the selection and management of outside contractors and consultants working in support of MERC programs.

May act as proposal manager responsible for the development of programmatic and technical approach. Provide labor and other direct charges (ODC) estimates and manage development of proposal briefings.

Working with the Senior Manager of Business Development, direct the technical responses to Requests for Proposal, Requests for Quote, BAAs, etc.

Build and maintain a working environment of trust and teamwork; swiftly and effectively addresses issues that interfere with a cohesive and productive working environment.

Qualifications

• US Citizenship.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Security Clearance.
• PhD degree in a relevant engineering field (EE, ME, AE, IE, SW, etc.) or Applied Science from an ABET-accredited institution and 19 years of directly related technical and managerial experience; or a Master’s degree in same and 21 years of directly related technical and managerial experience; or an undergraduate degree in same and 22 years of directly related technical and managerial experience.
• Strong analytical skills and a working knowledge of leading large cross-functional programs.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, PC application software, advanced analytic techniques, program management, organizational skills, and software skills.
• Excellent critical thinking and analytical/problem-solving skills.
• Technical acumen and the ability to troubleshoot on a variety of programs.
• Communicate clearly horizontally and vertically across an organization. These communications span the gap between engineering interns to the Sr. Director of Engineering and Programs and across to other Engineering Directors, business development staff, operations staff, and clients.
• Exceptional organizational and time management skills with an obsessive attention to detail.
• Superior budgeting and cost management abilities, assessing estimated costs early in the program and bringing the actual costs within budget.
• Perform business development activities to include customer interface, estimating and scheduling, technical proposal development, and follow-through.