Head of Agile Systems Engineering

Penn State University; University Park (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition discount 75% for employees and

Generous benefits

Job summary

Penn State University is seeking a Department Head for the Agile Systems Engineering Department within the Applied Research Laboratory. The role leads a multidisciplinary team, shapes strategic direction for embedded systems and model-based engineering, and manages budgets across diverse programs.

The position emphasizes securing partnerships with defense sponsors, delivering high-quality research, and guiding training initiatives for ARL staff and external partners.

Qualifications

• Leading individual research projects and portfolios including developing technical concepts, writing winning proposals, staffing the project, conducting the research, managing budgets, and delivering high-quality results
• Past success applying systems engineering techniques for complex system development, with emphasis on streamlined and/or tailored processes
• System architecture design, functional analysis, requirements development, system decomposition, and flow down of requirements
• System and interface architecture development and testing
• Evaluation of communications, messaging, and data architectures
• Developing logical and physical representative models of system requirements and architectures
• Developing time-varying physics-based models
• Model-based approaches to supplement traditional test & evaluation (T&E) methods for more complete and cost-effective verification & validation of system requirements
• systems engineering challenges in complex systems (e.g., maritime, aerospace, ground vehicles, unmanned systems)
• Past success in writing white papers or reports
• Active security clearance, at the Secret level or higher

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all aspects of the Agile Systems Engineering Department
• Provide strategic direction, technical leadership, and operational oversight
• Personnel management, workforce planning, talent development, and performance evaluation
• Build and direct a multidisciplinary team focused on the application of systems engineering to a diverse set of programs
• Mentor systems engineers in applying systems engineering to complex problems spanning early science to system acquisition
• Support division leadership in developing and maintaining sponsor relationships to meet funding objectives
• Lead research projects and portfolios including developing technical concepts, writing proposals, staffing, research, budgets, and delivering results
• Foster partnerships with U.S. Military Program Offices, defense contractors, systems integrators, and government laboratories
• Lead department personnel in developing training on systems engineering for ARL staff and external partners; foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and mission focus
• Establish and maintain partnerships with Defense Industrial Base stakeholders
• Collaborate across ARL departments and external stakeholders as a trusted agent for large U.S. Military programs

Skills

Leadership

Systems engineering

System architecture design

Requirements development

Model-based engineering

Proposal writing

Budget management

Team mentoring

Security clearance

Technical leadership

Job description

Penn State University is seeking a Department Head for the Agile Systems Engineering Department within the Applied Research Laboratory. The role leads a multidisciplinary team, shapes strategic direction for embedded systems and model-based engineering, and manages budgets across diverse programs.

The position emphasizes securing partnerships with defense sponsors, delivering high-quality research, and guiding training initiatives for ARL staff and external partners.