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The Mission Operations Department supports national intelligence mission centers by strengthening warning, collection, analysis, enterprise coordination, and strategy execution. The department helps senior government sponsors identify seams across mission areas, reduce fragmentation, and build integrated responses to complex national security challenges. It provides the policy, analytic, operational, and technical depth required to help mission partners work as a unified enterprise advancing intelligence integration and national security outcomes.
Position Summary:MITRE's National Intelligence Division is seeking a Lead Systems Engineer with a blend of cloud engineering and software development experience to provide senior-level technical assessments, enterprise strategy, and analytic support to an IC sponsor. This full-time role will be embedded on-site with the sponsor in Bethesda, Maryland, supporting senior government leaders in shaping and executing enterprise modernization strategy. Key activities include defining technical requirements, assessing cloud capabilities, developing solution and system architectures, evaluating software integration approaches, and guiding enterprise-wide implementation strategy.
The successful candidate will bring a strong understanding of Intelligence Community missions, cloud-native architectures, modern software development practices, and enterprise capabilities. This individual will be expected to operate with exceptional judgment, discretion, and independence; synthesize complex mission, engineering, software, and organizational issues; and translate sponsor priorities into clear technical strategies, prototypes, implementation approaches, and measurable outcomes.
Roles & Responsibilities:- Serve as a lead systems engineer and technical advisor supporting sponsor priorities, including cloud modernization, software-enabled capability development, engineering analysis, and executive decision-making.
- Partner with IC sponsors, developers, architects, cybersecurity specialists, and operational users to execute mission engineering, cloud architecture, application integration, and capability assessment activities aligned to operational priorities.
- Develop and assess mission, solution, and cloud architectures; operational concepts; APIs and interfaces; and system-of-systems solutions using mission engineering and quantitative analysis techniques.
- Evaluate capability gaps, mission effectiveness, software and infrastructure tradeoffs, operational risks, scalability, resilience, security, and technical debt to support government decision-making.
- Apply modern engineering and development methods-including cloud-native design, infrastructure as code, CI/CD, DevSecOps, AI/ML, data analytics, and automated testing-to support architecture development, requirements analysis, prototyping, and modernization efforts.
- Conduct qualitative and quantitative evaluations of alternative cloud services, software architectures, technologies, integration patterns, and investment options.
- Identify technical risks and uncertainties and lead experimentation, rapid prototyping, proof-of-concept development, and risk-reduction activities.
- Support requirements management, architecture development, interface and API management, integration planning, software delivery, and test and evaluation efforts.
- Develop, review, and refine high-impact strategic products, including engineering papers, strategic assessments, implementation plans, executive briefings, and stakeholder coordination materials.
- Advise senior government leaders on technical implementation plans, enterprise strategy, and enterprise integration challenges, including tradeoffs, risks, dependencies, and implementation considerations.
- Lead analysis of complex IC issues, identify cross-cutting themes, assess technical implications, and develop actionable recommendations that support sponsor objectives.
- Coordinate across government, MITRE, and contractor teams to align work efforts, manage dependencies, and ensure products are integrated, accurate, and responsive to senior-leader needs.
- Mentor and guide MITRE staff supporting related work efforts, contributing to analytic rigor, product quality, and professional development without necessarily serving as a project manager of record.
Basic Qualifications:- Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years with a Master's degree; or 3 years with a PhD; or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience leading technical tasks or small multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Expertise in systems or solution architecture, cloud engineering, software development, mission engineering, systems-of-systems engineering, or a closely related technical area.
- Ability to assess mission effectiveness, cost-performance tradeoffs, cloud and software architecture alternatives, cybersecurity considerations, and technical risk.
- Experience collaborating with operational users, government stakeholders, software developers, cloud engineers, cybersecurity teams, industry, and other technical teams.
- Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform and with developing, integrating, or evaluating software-based capabilities using modern programming languages, APIs, automation, or infrastructure-as-code tools.
- Strong understanding of Intelligence Community missions, organizations, authorities, policy processes, and interagency coordination mechanisms.
- Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a complex, classified, matrixed, and fast-paced sponsor environment.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing and briefing senior executives or national-level decision makers.
- Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex issues, identify strategic implications, and translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
- Must have an active Top Secret/SCI w/Polygraph U.S Government issued Security Clearance.
- This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site
Preferred Qualifications:- Prior experience supporting within the IC or DOW
- Ability to build trust quickly with senior sponsors and operate with discretion, sound judgment, and minimal direction.
- Advanced degree in a relevant technical discipline.
- Experience designing or assessing cloud, mission, systems, solution, or enterprise architectures.
- Experience leading systems engineering or software-intensive modernization efforts in complex systems-of-systems environments.
- Demonstrated innovation through software prototypes, cloud-native solutions, automation, research, publications, or digital engineering methods.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build effective working relationships with government and technical stakeholders.
- Experience advising senior leaders on organizational risk, mission performance, stakeholder alignment, or enterprise-level decision-making.
- Experience working across multiple IC elements to coordinate cloud modernization, software integration, strategy, or implementation activities.
This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph
This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph
Salary compensation range and midpoint:$146,400 - $183,000 - $219,600 Annual
Work Location Type:Onsite
Commitment to Non-DiscriminationAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.
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