RPO Futures Section Manager

The Aerospace Corporation; Chantilly (VA); Hybrid; USD 148,000 - 221,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care plans

Telework options

401(k) plan

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation seeks a Section Manager for the RPO Futures Section in a hybrid role based in Chantilly, VA (and other locations). You will lead a distributed team of analysts, steer strategic RPO work, and engage with government customers to anticipate future needs while maturing AI/vision-enabled capabilities for mission solutions.

Responsibilities include coordinating with RAID leadership, developing new capabilities, and guiding staff through onboarding and training.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM or related field.
• Typically 8+ years of professional or educational experience.
• Proven ability to initiate and lead team efforts and projects.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence an organization.
• Willingness to travel domestically ~10%.
• Must be eligible for TS/SCI security clearance and U.S. citizenship.

Responsibilities

• Lead a geographically distributed team of analysts to mature emerging technologies and align with mission needs.
• Develop relationships with program offices and government customers to anticipate future requirements.
• Coordinate RAID's strategic vision and cross-functional partnerships to deliver unified technical depth.
• Evolve organizational capabilities by researching and reviewing new technologies.
• Drive staff retention, recruiting, onboarding, and clearance portfolios to sustain health.
• Contribute hands-on technical expertise translating mission requirements into solutions.

Skills

Leadership & team management

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic planning

RPO/AI/ML knowledge

Security clearance TS/SCI

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Job description

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space. The Enterprise Effects Division (EED) drives integration of Aerospace’s strategic capabilities across the national space enterprise. The division leverages a broad array of engineering disciplines against a wide-ranging and dynamic portfolio of programs, customers, and national challenges. EED spans the capability lifecycle from concept and architecture design to performance assessment to application of space and space-enabled capabilities. The RPO Analysis and Integration Department (RAID) is EED’s premier organization for mission-level Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO), bringing together the expertise necessary to analyze, design, and develop systems across the full lifecycle of RPO missions. We deliver impactful modeling, simulation, and analysis to a variety of military and civil customers, enabling the key missions that will service and protect critical space infrastructure. We are looking for a Section Manager to lead our RPO Futures Section. As the lead of the RPO Futures Section, the selected candidate will help formulate the delivery of critical multidisciplinary RPO analyses, tools, and capabilities, incorporating disruptive and evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence and computer vision into achievable mission architectures. This candidate will become a leading corporate voice in shaping Aerospace’s strategic vision for how emerging technologies are matured and integrated into RPO mission solutions, for a wide range of defense, intelligence, and civil and commercial customers.

Work Model

This position will be a hybrid work model based in Chantilly, VA, Colorado Springs, CO or El Segundo, CA, with the expectation that the selected candidate works at least 4 days per week onsite, as the business needs allow.

What You’ll Be Doing

Leadership & Team Management:

Lead a geographically distributed team of analysts exploring and maturing emerging technologies, aligning research efforts with evolving mission needs through workload management, performance assessment, mentoring, and staff development

Customer Engagement & Business Development:

Develop relationships with Aerospace program offices and government customers to anticipate future mission needs ahead of demand, translating novel technology insights into customer-relevant RPO solutions and long-term engagement opportunities

Strategic Coordination & Execution:

Partner with department management to synthesize and execute RAID's strategic vision, coordinating cross-functional efforts and cross-organizational partnerships to deliver unified “One Aerospace” technical depth to the customer

Capability Development:

Conduct research and review emerging technologies to evolve organizational capabilities and stay ahead of customer needs, working at the intersection of technical disciplines to explore novel concepts and mission architectures

Organizational Enablement:

Drive staff retention, recruiting, hiring, and onboarding while pursuing organizational enablers including classified IT resources and clearance portfolios to ensure long-term organizational health

Technical Contribution:

Contribute hands‑on technical expertise across RAID's portfolio translating customer mission requirements into technical solutions

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in applicable STEM areas
• Typically 8years of applicable professional or educational experience
• Demonstrated ability toinitiateand lead team efforts, manage projects, and develop staff
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the proven ability to influence a technical organization
• Proven ability to foster an environment where teammates collaborate across organizational lines for the strategic benefit of all parties, including internal and external equities
• Willing to travel domestically approx. 10%
• 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

• Advanced degree in applicable STEM areas
• Strong connections with NSG programs and customer base
• Experience applying or overseeing the application of AI/ML, computer vision, autonomy, or probabilistic frameworks to flight mechanics, RPO, or mission-level analysis problems
• Experience leading or guiding software architecture decisions and tool development efforts
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, research-driven environments where technology directions and focus areas are still taking shape
• Current TS/SCI, SAP, and/or RSV clearances

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business. The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below. Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge and skills. (Min - Max) $147,600.00 - $221,400.00 Pay Basis: Annual

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change
• Engage with Impact
• Foster Innovation
• Deliver Results Ways

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type. A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options
• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company‑paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire
• Flexible spending accounts
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions
• Relocation assistance
• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career
• Education assistance programs
• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from various backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at [e-mail] . You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.

Right Place

The Aerospace Corporation has over 26 locations nationwide, which allows us to build a workforce that will nurture the best ideas, and generate the most novel innovations and solutions to our nation’s toughest space enterprise challenges.

Right Path

Right Path Aerospace covers all stages of the space lifecycle, from concept to operations. We believe our people are our most valuable resource and that’s why we propel our employees forward in their careers through ongoing education, training, and professional development.

Right Purpose

Right Purpose We can all serve a mission much greater than ourselves, and at Aerospace that is exactly what we do. By hiring the industry’s most preeminent scientists and engineers, Aerospace advances emerging technologies that protect some of the most critical missions on Earth and above it.

Return to the Aerospace Careers site.

Aerospace employees working in organizations with technical responsibilities are required to obtain a Security Clearance. U.S. citizenship is required for those positions.