Project Leader, OSD CAPE

The MITRE Corporation • McLean, VA

22h • Hybrid

About The Position

At MITRE, individuals can engage in meaningful work while maintaining a fulfilling life. MITRE is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to public interest, operating R&D centers for the government across diverse fields such as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. The organization is committed to its employees' long-term well-being, offering competitive benefits, professional development, and a culture that values adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and partnership. MITRE’s Acquisition Studies & Analysis (ASA) Department is seeking an accomplished and proactive staff member to serve as a project leader and technical contributor. This role supports the Office of the Secretary of War – Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (OSW-CAPE) and oversees a 3-5 PTS program focused on advanced modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) for the Department of Defense's lead analytics agency. The ASA department aims to enhance warfighter lethality, operational effectiveness, and acquisition acceleration for the Department of War, with a portfolio spanning Cyber, Electronic Warfare, Installation Resilience and Operational Energy, Industrial Base and Investments, Software and Digital Modernization, Threat and Risk Reduction, and Force Design Analysis and International. The primary responsibility of this position is to collaborate with the OSD CAPE Cross Portfolio Analysis Division to address analytical capability and capacity gaps, particularly in executing the Strategic Portfolio Review process. This includes shaping, staffing, and managing a team of MITRE colleagues performing cutting-edge MS&A, leveraging expertise from across MITRE for CAPE studies. The work requires a minimum TS/SCI clearance and offers an exciting opportunity to directly influence Department senior leadership on optimal resource allocation.

Requirements

• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Active TS/SCI clearance
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to internally recruit, organize, supervise, and motivate teams of technical staff to execute task objectives.
• Consistent track record of generating relevant, impactful product deliverables (including definition, completion, and technical quality), in both an individual contributor and team setting.
• Strong understanding of the roles and functions of the various Title 10 components of DoD, the structure of OSD, of Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution, the spectrum of conflict, National Defense Strategy, and joint warfighting.
• Established expertise in military operations research, combat modeling and simulation, mathematical optimization, probabilistic reasoning, and statistical modeling, and in particular the communication of the results of this kind of work.
• Strong critical thinking, analytic, and problem-solving skills – comfortable working in dynamic settings where task objectives may evolve or need to be shaped, or creative solutions to task impediments must be identified.
• Excellent interpersonal and technical communication skills, with the ability to write technical reports, present briefings, and persuasively speak to audiences of all backgrounds, including executives or senior customers.
• Demonstrated ability to work in an interdisciplinary team environment, establish and leverage a diverse professional network, and integrate contributions from a variety of resources (people, tools, organizations).
• This position requires a minimum of 50% hybrid on-site presence.

Nice To Haves

• Recent experience with successful technical studies management or technical leadership with Service impact.
• Prior FFRDC experience leading prototyping or analytical efforts and yielding impactful results at high levels of government.
• Senior military or government civilian experience.
• Strong grasp of the relevant capabilities, processes, missions, and challenges of one or more of the following domain areas: Joint warfare, Electronic warfare, Campaign Analysis, Nuclear warfare, Counter-Drone.

Responsibilities

• Being the primary MITRE interface to the project’s sponsors: build/maintain trusted relationships with key government leaders and stakeholders.
• Being accountable for the overall execution of the project’s work program: negotiate entry/exit of major tasks; onboarding of new staff; select Task Leaders, serve as their mentor/advisor, and provide performance feedback; maintain staff plans and budgets to ensure delivery within allocated resources; and ensure major milestones are met on time, within resources, and to sponsor expectations.
• Leading by example: personally contribute to (or lead the development of) one or more high impact project deliverables; long-term professional self-development to become/remain a credible MITRE voice on CAPE topics
• Establishing high quality of project deliverables, in consultation with the Department Chief Engineer: ensure delivered products lead to successful, impactful sponsor outcomes; review project deliverables and ensure appropriate peer review; and archive and appropriately share key deliverables.
• Bringing MITRE to bear for the project’s sponsors: Support relevant strategic initiatives of MITRE and the Division/Department; and build partnerships between the project and other MITRE work programs, including our internal research & development program.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits
• Exceptional professional development opportunities for career growth
• Culture of innovation that embraces adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and people in partnership

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees