Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) Center of Excellence Capability Area Lead

Do you have passion and experience for helping senior leaders make better data driven decisions to improve acquisition outcomes?  Do you like solving multiple problems and exploring novel ideas? Do you enjoy driving analysis/analytical products that influence decision makers on strategic national security challenges and draw engagement/visibility from senior stakeholders, including the White House, Congress, the US Department of War (DoW), and Intelligence Community?  Do you want to lead a highly motivated and capable team that plays an increasingly particularly pivotal role at a time of unprecedented change in the Space enterprise? If so, join our team of Space acquisition and analysis experts at Aerospace. 

In an era of dynamic change in space, Aerospace is addressing a once in a generation set of complex challenges as the Space ecosystem undergoes rapid and unprecedented evolution. The Aerospace Corporation operates the only federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) committed exclusively to the space enterprise. Our technical experts span every discipline of space-related science and engineering. Join our team and thrive in a career that matters to the world and to you personally.  The Acquisition Planning and Decision Analytics (APDA) department delivers acquisition and systems engineering expertise and data-driven capability enablers to improve decision making to enable effective acquisition planning and deliver successful acquisition outcomes. We enable decision makers to understand and navigate an increasingly dynamic, complex and evolving Space ecosystem while preserving options and driving down risk to ensure mission success. 

Aerospace invites highly qualified candidates to apply to be the APDA NGSO center of excellence Capability Area lead in support of our warfighters.  This position requires a dynamic and collaborative leader with a demonstrated record of successfully providing technical leadership in a large, matrixed engineering organization with considerable expertise in the business and systems engineering activities associated with system acquisition, deployment, and sustainment to program offices across the acquisition spectrum including traditional and non-traditional contract structures, traditional and new-entrant suppliers as applied to Department of War operational missions and support. The department is geographically dispersed with the majority of personnel centered in Northern Virginia or Southern California.  The position can be executed out of any of Aerospace’s facilities. 

What You’ll Be Doing  

• Work across Aerospace to develop solutions that enable enterprise mission success, deliver technical excellence, people excellence, and operational excellence with an emphasis on successfully delivering space capabilities to warfighters to close critical operational mission gaps quickly and agilely.   

• Perform & lead technical or analysis tasks, including hands on development, development of roadmaps and strategies to close technical gaps to integrate commercial and traditional space capabilities, assessments of commercial offerings and plans to accelerate delivery of capability to warfighters while balancing competing priorities and navigating policy, political, budget and cost constraints. 

• Advise senior customers and stakeholders on successful planning and risk mitigation to enable successful and timely deployment of integrated space capabilities to meet operational needs.  

• Work across organizational boundaries and interface with senior Program Office personnel, customers, stakeholders, associate contractors and corporate management. 

• Develop, collaborate, and maintain relationships with program offices across Aerospace and external stakeholders.  

• Actively engage with and contribute to the professional community of interest by leading and organizing events such as conference, seminars, and industry forums across the enterprise to enable partnerships and shape emerging NGSO capabilities in the commercial sector to enable warfighter outcomes. 

• Act as a mentor, providing technical advice/guidance to junior staff and customers. 

• Lead and host educational workshops, information sharing sessions, and training programs to promote knowledge sharing. 

• Establish and maintain a knowledge base, lessons learned, and trusted relationships to further the NGSO enterprise across the stakeholder community. 

• Work with subdivision leaders to deliver subdivision goals and capability development 

What You Need to be Successful  

• Advanced degree in engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, business, finance, or related technical or analytics discipline; or a master’s degree in engineering with exposure to business, market research, finance, or investment banking 

• Minimum of 12 years of relevant space-related acquisition or analysis experience. 

• Previous experience leading distributed, highly technical project teams. 

• Consistent track record of establishing and maintaining effective interpersonal and working relationships with different levels of corporate staff, peers, management, program offices, customers, partners, stakeholders and contractors. 

• Excellent communications skills, both written and oral 

• Deep understanding of Department of War priorities, missions, and operational Space based needs and acquisition processes 

• A commitment to a respectful environment that fosters excellence, commitment to mission, collaboration, and opportunity 

• Broad understanding and demonstrated experience in systems acquisition, systems engineering, systems integration, commercial space markets and investment analysis 

• A proven track record of building partnerships, modeling collaboration across organizations, and facilitating effective exchanges with a wide variety of stakeholders to influence and make critical decisions 

• A demonstrated appreciation for the FFRDC mission and role 

• A systems-thinking approach and proven experience of forming and leading high performing teams.   

• Ability to lead in a fast-paced, dynamic environment during a time of significant change while setting clear technical vision for the team 

• Able to travel domestically up to 20%. 

• This position requires ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance. 

How You Can Stand Out 

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these: 

• Minimum of 15 years of applicable experience working space-related engineering and/or investment analysis, commercial acquisition risks, working with startups, or defense and national security space industry stakeholders, or commercial satellite service providers  

• Experience working with customer-facing organizations across a wide variety of DoW, IC and Civil programs 

• Expertise in Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) or NGSO communications. 

• Proven ability to successfully engage with senior executives and external audiences 

• Fluency with acquisition analysis best practices. 

• Demonstrated hands on experience delivering high quality technical, business, and cost assessments.  

• Experience working in a program office setting, managing matrix support, and developing statements of work. 

• Recognition as a subject matter expert with publications, presentations, or contributions to the broader community of practice 

• Experience in a commercial space or satellite service organization, especially related to business development, market research, or raising capital financing 

• Deep knowledge of US Government acquisition processes and methods 

• Deep understanding of the space industrial base 

• Familiarity with Aerospace Corporation’s customers and working in a classified environment 

• Fluency in how DoW decision making occurs inside and outside of headquarters that affects policy, planning, and funding 

• Understanding of different US Government agency budgeting, planning, and execution processes 

• Experience with Space Communications, Digital Engineering, MBSE, data science, or AI/ML 

• Current DoW TS and SSBI/SCI Clearance 

Leadership Competencies 

• Operates Strategically  

• Demonstrates ability to develop a vision and execute strategies  

• Anticipates and generates solutions a head of need  

• Pivots with agility when circumstances change 

• Engages with Impact 

• Effectively communications with purpose, clarity, and authenticity  

• Builds trust, inspires others, and develops top talent for growth and leadership succession  

• Collaborates to generate optimal enterprise solutions 

• Leads Change 

• Motivates people to thrive in the face of uncertainty 

• Effectively navigates with multiple stakeholders whose interest are not always aligned  

• Fosters Innovation 

• Creates an environment where it is safe to challenge the status quo, experiment, and take risks 

• Delivers Results 

• Makes decisions with an enterprise mindset that considers operational and financial factors