National Counterterrorism Center Project Leader (Intelligence Center)

The MITRE Corporation • McLean, VA

1d • $182,000 - $273,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Mission Operations Department supports ODNI’s mission centers by strengthening warning, collection, analysis, and enterprise coordination. The department helps ODNI identify seams across mission areas, reduce fragmentation, and build integrated responses to complex national security challenges. It provides the technical depth, analytic support, and operational understanding required to help centers work as a unified enterprise advancing ODNI’s intelligence integration mandate.

The Mission Operations Department is seeking a Senior Principal Project Leader to support the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). This role manages, guides, and directs technical and domain-specific efforts that advance the nation’s strategic counterterrorism mission and deliver enterprise-level solutions to complex counterterrorism challenges. The successful candidate will operate at senior levels of government and routinely coordinate with Intelligence Community (IC) partners with counterterrorism equities.
The Project Leader is responsible for end-to-end execution of the NCTC project, a large, complex program supporting the nation’s counterterrorism mission, including leadership of the following key project areas:

Technical mission support to improve mission performance and outcomes, including translating sponsor needs into actionable technical approaches and deliverables.
Technical solution identification and assessments, including evaluating options, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to optimize counterterrorism outcomes.
Concept development and operationalization, including socializing new concepts and driving adoption across sponsors and partners.
Whole-of-government strategy and implementation planning, including development and execution of national-level counterterrorism strategies, roadmaps, and supporting plans.
Data management and data policy, including advancing governance, responsible information sharing, and alignment of data practices to mission and interagency requirements.
In addition to leading these functional areas, the Project Leader is responsible for overall project execution and stakeholder outcomes, including:

Driving senior sponsor engagement and interagency coordination, including navigating governance processes, building consensus, and balancing competing stakeholder equities in politically sensitive, high-visibility environments.
Leading program and team execution, including staffing and recruiting, budgeting, schedule and risk management, performance reporting, and mentorship and development of multidisciplinary teams.
This position requires initiative, creative leadership, and the ability to communicate and execute effectively with senior government leaders, along with an in-depth understanding of NCTC’s mission, the IC enterprise, and interagency coordination and collaboration.

Requirements

• Active TS/SCI clearance with a current polygraph is required.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Requires 12+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor’s degree, 10+ years with a Master’s degree, or 7+ years with a PhD, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in the U.S. Government national security and Intelligence Community enterprise, including ODNI, and experience operating at senior levels across multiple agencies.
• Deep subject matter expertise in the U.S. counterterrorism enterprise, including interagency coordination processes, stakeholders, and mission priorities.
• Proven end-to-end project leadership experience for large, complex efforts, including work shaping, staffing, recruiting, budgeting, scheduling, risk management, and performance reporting.
• Strong ability to provide technical mission support, including experience with data management and data policy, and evaluating technical solutions to optimize mission outcomes.
• Superior sponsor engagement and communications skills, with experience navigating politically sensitive, high-visibility environments and balancing competing stakeholder equities.
• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality written deliverables and recommendations that clearly communicate complex topics, balance depth with timeliness, and align technical improvements with programmatic constraints.
• Ability to develop strategies to increase the impact, adoption, and operational relevance of project deliverables.
• Strong familiarity with MITRE’s organizational structure, work programs, and Intelligence Center priorities, including how to align internal capabilities to sponsor mission needs.
• This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.
• Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph clearance required.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience leading or serving as a project leader on ODNI- or NCTC-sponsored programs, including navigating interagency governance and decision-making processes.
• Demonstrated success in shaping and expanding work to meet evolving sponsor priorities, translating mission needs into actionable project plans and deliverables.
• Proven ability to establish and sustain partnerships across government, industry, and academia to leverage technology, data, and platforms in support of the counterterrorism mission.
• Experience building and developing high-performing teams, including workforce planning, recruiting, mentoring, and aligning skill mix to deliver technical mission support (for example, data management, data policy, and solution assessment).
• Demonstrated ability to drive innovation and evaluate emerging technical approaches to improve mission outcomes, including accelerating adoption and operational impact.
• Ability to thrive in collaborative, fast-paced environments, balancing competing stakeholder equities while delivering measurable operational benefit to sponsors and the Nation.

Responsibilities

• Manages, guides, and directs technical and domain-specific efforts that advance the nation’s strategic counterterrorism mission and deliver enterprise-level solutions to complex counterterrorism challenges.
• Operates at senior levels of government and routinely coordinates with Intelligence Community (IC) partners with counterterrorism equities.
• Responsible for end-to-end execution of the NCTC project, a large, complex program supporting the nation’s counterterrorism mission.
• Provides technical mission support to improve mission performance and outcomes, including translating sponsor needs into actionable technical approaches and deliverables.
• Identifies and assesses technical solutions, including evaluating options, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to optimize counterterrorism outcomes.
• Develops and operationalizes concepts, including socializing new concepts and driving adoption across sponsors and partners.
• Develops and executes whole-of-government strategy and implementation planning, including national-level counterterrorism strategies, roadmaps, and supporting plans.
• Advances data management and data policy, including governance, responsible information sharing, and alignment of data practices to mission and interagency requirements.
• Drives senior sponsor engagement and interagency coordination, including navigating governance processes, building consensus, and balancing competing stakeholder equities in politically sensitive, high-visibility environments.
• Leads program and team execution, including staffing and recruiting, budgeting, schedule and risk management, performance reporting, and mentorship and development of multidisciplinary teams.
• Communicates and executes effectively with senior government leaders.
• Understands NCTC’s mission, the IC enterprise, and interagency coordination and collaboration.

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