Cybersecurity Chief Engineer

Mercer University•Warner Robins, GA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC), a research institute of Mercer University, provides engineering, scientific, and technical support to government and private-industry customers. The Cybersecurity Chief Engineer is responsible for executing contractual efforts, including design, development, prototyping, production, and operation as applicable. The role sets an example for and advises and mentors technical leads and contract personnel, and performs duties under the supervision of the respective Technical Director. The position oversees technical status, engineering artifacts, deliverable quality and release, technical staffing and resources, customer relationships, business development, proposal capture, budgets, and capital investment requirements across the technical area. It also communicates program status, issues, and challenges to senior leaders and protects MERC’s competition-sensitive, proprietary information and intellectual property.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship.
Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.
A Ph.D. in a relevant engineering field from an ABET-accredited institution and 10 years of directly related technical experience; or a master's degree in the same and 12 years of directly related technical experience; or an undergraduate degree in the same and 13 years of directly related technical experience.
Experience leading technical teams: 11 years with an advanced degree or 13 years with an undergraduate degree.
Extensive experience in a designated industry, including aerospace, electrical, software, environmental, biomedical, mechanical, or systems engineering.
Experience leading teams comprising people from varied backgrounds and disciplines.
Knowledge of engineering, analysis, testing, and design principles.
Exceptional organizational and time-management skills and close attention to detail.
Ability to collaborate and bridge communication between engineering teams, service technicians, business development, operations staff, and clients.
Strong budgeting and cost-management abilities, including estimating costs early and bringing actual costs within budget.
Ability to write clear, comprehensive reports about contracts, resource use and allocation, and finished-program quality.
Technical acumen and ability to troubleshoot across a variety of programs.
Ability to perform business-development activities, including customer interface, estimating and scheduling, technical proposal development, and follow-through.

Nice To Haves

Ability to develop and execute a long-term strategic vision for software and cybersecurity capabilities aligned with organizational growth objectives.
Recognized technical leadership in one or more advanced cyber disciplines, such as cyber operations, secure software engineering, DevSecOps, Zero Trust architectures, artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud security, digital engineering, systems security engineering, or emerging-technology integration.
Track record of developing and maturing technical capabilities that produced measurable business growth, market expansion, or competitive advantage.
Success challenging conventional approaches and introducing innovative solutions that improve mission effectiveness, technical performance, operational efficiency, or customer outcomes.
Understanding of DoD, Intelligence Community, federal, and commercial cybersecurity markets, including technology trends, threats, acquisition strategies, and customer priorities.
Experience translating market opportunities, customer challenges, and emerging technologies into research, development, investment, and capture strategies.
History of identifying growth-limiting processes, technologies, or organizational assumptions and leading transformational change despite institutional resistance.

Responsibilities

Track technical status for contracts in the technical directorate and report issues and recommended solutions to the Technical Director.
Serve as a technical lead on contracts when needed.
Identify technical resources required for the technical area and help hire, train, and equip the area; identify qualifications and requirements for the Technical Director and Senior Manager, Employee Services.
Ensure engineering artifacts comply with MERC Standard Processes; review finished-product quality and effectiveness, document Lessons Learned, and act as the release authority for deliverables.
Develop business with new customers and new capabilities in DoD and commercial markets.
Keep the Technical Director, Director of Acquisition Strategy, Senior Director of Engineering and Programs, and Executive Director informed about programs, particularly issues and challenges.
Serve as the primary focal point for current customers within the technical area and across MERC.
Serve as capture manager for contract opportunities and lead proposal teams with the Director of Acquisition Strategy and Senior Manager of Business Development.
Recommend training for new employees in the technical area.
Justify budget and resource-allocation recommendations to senior management.
Provide capital-investment requirements for the technical area to the Technical Director.
Protect MERC competition-sensitive and proprietary information and intellectual property from people without a need to know.