COMM Mission Director

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)•Springfield, VA

7d•$117,753 - $172,578•Onsite

About The Position

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Communications Systems Directorate (COMM), Enterprise Management Office (EMO), seeks a motivated IT professional with interest in a highly-visible, fast-paced environment to serve as the COMM Directorate's operational focal point and oversee COMM operations on behalf of the Director of COMM in support of NRO missions. If selected for the position, you will serve as the COMM Mission Director with authorities to direct all COMM resources within the COMM IT portfolio across the enterprise in support of NRO operations. Acting as the senior government representative for COMM operations within the NRO Operations Center (NOC), you will be charged with the responsibility of actively coordinating with Site Mission Directors, Site Senior COMM Leads, and COMM Group & Office Operations representatives to maintain situational awareness for a wide audience of NRO, COMM and Directorate leaders, driving incident response collaboration, and coordination of COMM maintenance activities. In turn, your role will also be expected to support real-time NRO missions through 24x7 mission assurance of COMM capabilities ensuring availability of COMM systems, services, and capabilities, and conducting maintenance de-confliction and approval. Also, importantly, the position will also require you to coordinate with IC partners and external USG agencies and departments to drive resolution of incidents and assure operational support for USG-level operations. Serving as the operational lead for COMM within the NOC, you will be seen as the delegate of the Director of COMM to be the focal point and voice of COMM for NRO senior leaders. COMM Mission Director candidates will enter an immersive training program to gain a deep understanding of the NRO Information Enterprise architecture (~2 months) and its impact on NRO missions. Upon certification, COMM MDs serve the NRO in a mission-critical role on scheduled rotational shifts, including holiday, weekend, night duty, as well as regularly scheduled opportunities for professional development activities. The NRO Cadre is collecting resumes for consideration against current and future opportunities for full performance level (GG12 – GG13) IT Specialists, occupational series 2210. For more information on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) occupational series, click here. Your resume may be considered for other positions which your skills and experience may be a good match. This is a full-time position that is open from May 19, 2026 to June 2, 2026. Resumes must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST on Jun 2, 2026.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen
Must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance
Will be subject to pre-employment and periodic drug testing
Will be subject to pre-employment and periodic polygraph examinations
Highly desired: Bachelor’s degree in related function (software engineer, information technology, cybersecurity, systems and network engineers, etc.)
Knowledge of and proficiency in the use of desktop applications (e.g. Microsoft Office) and systems as required to execute operational processes and procedures
Experience with the interrelationships of multiple IT specialties
Understanding of an organization’s IT architecture
Knowledge of new IT developments and applications
Relating emerging technologies and their applications to improve business processes
Strong knowledge of IT security concepts, standards, and methods
Demonstrate aptitude to learn knowledge of agency mission, objectives, terminology, and management practices to recognize probable areas of interaction and overlap between proposed applications and existing systems
Experience with project management principles, methods, and practices, including developing plans and schedules, estimating resource requirements, defining milestones and deliverables, monitoring activities, and evaluating and reporting on accomplishments
Qualifying experience may have been acquired in any public or private sector job, but will clearly demonstrate past experience in the application of the particular competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform and is typically in or directly related to the duties of the position as described above. Experience must be reflected in your resume.

Nice To Haves

You may be required to obtain a CISM or CISSP certification within 6 months of being appointed to the position IAW Cyber Workforce Requirements outlined in DoWI 8500.01.
May be required to obtain the appropriate Financial Management certification level for the position within two years of assignment.
May be required to travel in military or commercial aircraft to perform temporary duty assignments.
May be required to file an OGE Form 450, Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, upon appointment and will be required to file annually.
If selected for a DAWIA coded position, the incumbent must meet appropriate certification requirements IAW the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) no later than 24 months after accepting this position. Individual shall maintain, at a minimum 80 continuous Learning Points every 24 months via the services acquisition management system. DAWIA requirements may be located at the Defense Acquisition University website.
May be subject to directed reassignment as required to address mission effectiveness, and/or career development.
Must achieve the appropriate IA certification within six months of assignment.
Certain positions are deemed emergency essential and incumbents must be willing to meet all position requirements.

Responsibilities

Overseeing and directing all real-time operations across the NRO enterprise on behalf of the Director of the COMM Directorate.
Acting as the senior communications government representative charged with the responsibility of actively coordinating with Mission Ground Site Mission Directors (MGS MD) to provide 24x7x365 support to NRO satellite missions.
Overseeing more than 300+ contractor personnel to conduct maintenance and de-conflictions and approvals, and assure the availability of communications systems, services, and capabilities for DoW and IC customers across the globe.
Orchestrating 24x7x365 incident management tracking, monitoring, coordination, and reporting for all infrastructure and services under the COMM IT Ecosystem.
Directing and facilitating the investigation and repair of information exchange issues between the COMM IT Service Ecosystem and those systems of other organizations who support or are supported by NRO missions.
Coordinating maintenance activity de-confliction and approval with Site MDs.
Providing daily briefings to executives regarding the status of NRO’s information environments and networks.
Utilizing and updating the mission logs, or equivalent, and other associated communications and collaboration resources to ensure continuity of operations and provide situational awareness to leadership.
Providing assistance in maintaining SOPs, checklists, and other associated documentation.
Serving as a key focal point for all COMM IT Ecosystem queries.