Department Head, Autonomy and Emerging Technology

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University; State College (Centre County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University is seeking a Department Head for Autonomy and Emerging Technology (AET) in the Systems and Emerging Capabilities Division within the Undersea Systems Office. The role leads innovation in autonomy for unmanned vehicles, sensor integration, navigation, and new capabilities for subsea operations.

You will oversee multi-disciplinary teams, manage resources, mentor engineers, and engage Navy sponsors to shape future UxV autonomy research and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science required with 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Experience leading technical teams and programs.
• Experience with autonomy and UxV systems or related defense/navy domains.
• Familiarity with DEVSECOPS for government autonomy and control software.
• Strong leadership, decision-making, and cross-disciplinary collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical and programmatic leadership for autonomy and emerging technologies in SSW.
• Oversee UxV programs and multidisciplinary teams across navigation, sensors, and communications.
• Manage resources and staffing to align with program priorities.
• Mentor engineers and researchers in UxV autonomy and related fields.
• Plan and execute system integration, field testing, and simulation for autonomy capabilities.
• Collaborate across ARL units and with sponsors to shape research directions.
• Engage with Navy/DoD stakeholders and represent ARL at conferences and reviews.

Skills

UxV autonomy

Team leadership

Decision making

DEVSECOPS

Maritime testing

Clearance eligibility

Autonomy software

Undersea navigation

AI/ML for UxV

Program management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science

Job description

The Systems and Emerging Capabilities Division in the Undersea Systems Office (USO) at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) is seeking a Department Head for Autonomy and Emerging Technology (AET). This department is an innovation hub for our Systems Engineering Division. The AET Department’s primary mission is to develop, test, and evaluate emerging capabilities in the Subsea and Seabed (SSW) mission area. It's secondary mission is to rapidly evaluate and field test new and emerging capabilities applicable to SSW – including testing of systems, payloads, and software.

This position may be filled as either a Research and Development Engineer or a non-tenure Research Faculty.

Research areas include, but not limited to:

• Autonomy for Unmanned Vehicles (UxVs), including autonomy architectures, behaviors, mission planning, and autonomy standards that improve reliability, endurance, and mission effectiveness in challenging maritime environments.
• Payloads/payload delivery of effects
• Sensor/sensor integration
• Navigation

You will:

• Technical Leadership - Lead innovation in SSW mission area to include autonomy for UxVs, including adaptive mission behaviors, environmental awareness, distributed autonomy, multi-vehicle coordination, and integration of autonomy with UxV sensors and payloads. Drive advancements in UxV simulation, field testing, and fleet-relevant autonomy capabilities
• Programmatic Leadership - Oversee SSW-focused UxV programs and multidisciplinary teams working across undersea navigation, endurance optimization, acoustic communications, environmental modeling, and autonomy-enabled CONOPS. Collaborate closely with ARL’s SSW Portfolio Manager and sponsors to shape new SSW research directions
• Resource Management - Align personnel and technical resources—including UxV test assets, autonomy laboratories, software infrastructure, and field test facilities—with program needs and strategic priorities
• Personnel Management - Mentor engineers and researchers specializing in UxV autonomy, control systems, undersea sensing, navigation, and environmental modeling. Foster growth in mission-focused undersea autonomy competencies
• Department Management - Ensure effective planning and execution of programs involving system integration, sea testing, autonomy software development, mission simulation and evaluation, and cross-domain unmanned systems collaboration
• Collaboration - Work across ARL departments to integrate autonomy with undersea vehicles, sensors, communications, and emerging technologies. Partner with oceanography, acoustics, guidance & control, and materials experts to develop next-generation UxV capabilities
• New Business – Must be entrepreneurial in nature. You will need to work with the SSW Portfolio manager to create and shape new UxV autonomy research opportunities. Help develop seedling efforts in areas such areas as: long-duration UxV autonomy, autonomous behaviors for complex missions, resilient undersea communications autonomy, and cross-domain unmanned vehicle coordination
• Customer Interaction – Engage directly with Navy sponsors, DoD collaborators, and other stakeholders to present UxV autonomy advancements, field-test results, and new capability concepts. Represent ARL at autonomy and undersea systems conferences and technical reviews

Required Skills/Experience areas include:

• Past success managing technical teams and programs
• Strong decision-making skills in complex technical and operational environments.
• Autonomy for unmanned systems including: autonomy architectures, behavior frameworks and mission planning for undersea missions, undersea navigation and perception autonomy behaviors, autonomy standards for UxVs (e.g., MOSA, A-GRA, UMAA, PCX), UXV simulation, evaluation, and verification environments
• DEVSECOPS approaches used for government autonomy and control software
• Test and evaluation of maritime platforms
• Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Top Secret level or higher and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required

Preferred Skills/Experience areas include:

• UxV systems, including platforms, mission payloads, launch and recovery, acoustic comms, and energy management
• Oceanography, seabed features, and environmental data used for UxV autonomy
• Past success supporting Navy missions, operational training, or UxV fleet experimentation
• Development or use of UxV simulation frameworks (e.g., high-fidelity hydrodynamic or environmental modeling)
• Principal Investigator or business development experience in UxV or autonomy programs
• AI/ML methods applied to UxV navigation, perception, environmental characterization, mission planning, or anomaly detection
• Past success managing technical personnel in undersea systems or autonomy fields

MINIMUM EDUCATION/ WORK EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science 5+ years of relevant experience

ARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Intel Community (IC), and other federal government customers.