Principal Cost Analyst

The Mitre Corporation•New Bedford, MA

4d•$157,200 - $235,800•Onsite

About The Position

MITRE’s Business Analytics and Acquisition Affordability Department is seeking an experienced cost analyst to support projects addressing government sponsors’ economic and financial challenges. The department works across cost estimation and analysis, investment economics and decision analysis, and strategic business and financial analytics. This position contributes to cost, economic, business, and data science analyses, potentially including life-cycle cost estimating, tradeoff and affordability analyses, decision analysis, portfolio investment analysis, economic analysis and modeling, business case analysis, modeling and simulation, advanced statistical techniques, and constrained optimization. The role is project-oriented and involves working across multiple projects in a dynamic, multidisciplinary team, often with limited structure or supervision. The analyst may scope and prioritize work with sponsors, collect and analyze large datasets, conduct market research, investigate relevant policies and regulations, and consider budgetary and political conditions. The position may also involve project management, collaboration, communication with technical and non-technical audiences, and direct sponsor engagement to solve complex, ambiguous problems. The position requires at least four days per week onsite. The hired candidate must obtain a Top Secret clearance within one year of hire; U.S. citizenship is required for clearance eligibility. The annual salary range is $157,200–$235,800, with a midpoint of $196,500.

Requirements

At least 10 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree, including prior leadership experience in cost estimating, cost risk analysis, and/or budgeting and the CPIC process in defense, intelligence, or civil agencies; alternatively, 8 years with a master’s degree, a Ph.D. with 5 years of experience, or an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, Finance, Business, Operations Research, Systems Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
Proficiency in developing risk-adjusted life-cycle cost estimates and investment economic and decision analyses.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and other analytical tools.
Technical depth and demonstrated ability to present analytical results verbally and in writing.
Ability to obtain a Top Secret clearance within one year of hire.
U.S. citizenship, as required for U.S. Government clearance eligibility.
Ability to work onsite at least four days per week.

Responsibilities

Lead teams of junior analysts to meet project objectives.
Identify, scope, and execute structured analyses for government sponsors while managing timelines, deliverables, and outcomes.
Develop models and perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of the cost, economic, and financial impacts of investments, risk-mitigation strategies, options, and other government actions.
Collect and analyze financial, cost, and economic data.
Develop or evaluate program technical and programmatic baselines.
Develop cost-estimating techniques for development, production, and operating and support cost elements.
Develop independent or program life-cycle cost estimates (LCCEs), including cost and schedule risk, uncertainty, and sensitivity analyses.
Develop cost estimates for source selection, including Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs).
Perform cost-related studies and analyses, including rate-reasonableness analyses.
Develop investment economic and decision analyses, including business case analyses, cost-benefit analyses, analyses of alternatives, and portfolio analyses.
Develop strategic business and financial analyses, including economic studies, cost-recovery strategies, budget development and planning, and affordability analyses.
Assess the credibility of government and industry cost estimates using benchmark guidance such as the GAO 12 Steps and the Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge (CEBoK).
Assess the credibility of government and industry cost-savings initiative data.
Conduct surveys and use sampling techniques.
Research fields including politics, national security, healthcare, education, and energy.
Use historical data and analyze market trends.
Identify information sources and gather quantitative and qualitative data to support decisions affecting MITRE and its government sponsors.
Apply exploratory data analysis, time-series analysis, and linear regression.
Draw conclusions and communicate key findings clearly and concisely in writing and verbally.
Assist in developing data visualizations that improve the presentation of complex datasets.
Translate unstructured data and nontraditional information sources into business insights.
Perform data cleaning, visualization, and analysis using statistical and graphics tools such as R, Stata, and Excel.
Engage directly with sponsors and collaborate across multiple projects.