Sr. AFRL Program Leader

The Aerospace Corporation; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 156,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care and wellness plans

Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

Telework options

401(k) plan with company match

Relocation assistance

Education assistance

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation in Albuquerque, NM seeks a Sr. Project Leader - Enterprise Systems Engineering to lead analysis-based decision support for Space Force and AFRL programs.

You will coordinate across aerospace teams, manage a diverse project staff, and drive integration of mission capabilities. Candidates should have a bachelor’s degree and 12+ years in systems engineering or program management, strong leadership, superb communication, and the ability to obtain TS/SCI clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited program.
• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in systems engineering or program management.
• Proven leadership skills within a program office or matrixed technical organization.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead integration of Aerospace expertise and analysis for Space Force and AFRL customers.
• Lead communication and coordination across organizations to ensure timely, high-quality development and delivery of strategies and risk assessments.
• Manage a diverse team of military, government civilians, primes, SE&I contractors, FFRDCs and national laboratories.
• Collaborate with AFRL projects and Aerospace Labs to enable collaboration with Space Force projects.
• Support senior customer forums and provide technical advice on space vehicle acquisitions and launch support.

Skills

Leadership

Program management

Systems engineering

Communication skills

Customer liaison

Education

Bachelor’s degree

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 Defense Systems Group (DSG) provides analysis-based decision support to senior leaders on space architectures, policy and strategy, technology development, warfighter capability enablers, systems integration, defense industrial base, and threat reduction to help shape existing and future space missions across the national security space (NSS) enterprise.

DSG is unique at Aerospace as it not only directly supports major customers, including the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Space Command, Air Force Material Command, and senior leadership at the Pentagon, but also provides a broad range of technical support across the national space enterprise, maintaining vertical responsibilities with customers’ portfolios as well as horizontal, matrixed responsibilities across the corporation. Additionally, DSG provides deep technical expertise to the Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) in the conception, design, acquisition, launch and operations of satellite, launch vehicle, ground control, and range systems.

The Advanced Technology and Concepts (ATC) organization within the Space Innovation Directorate (SID) leads the Aerospace team supporting the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) executed with the Air Force and Space Force. AFRL leads research and development for the Air Force and Space Force and develops prototypes and advanced technology demonstrators across the Department of War. The Sr. AFRL Program Leader will be the customer interface, providing assistance and oversight for technology development programs and mission development, systems engineering and operations planning for technology demonstrations and space experiments / prototypes both with the Space Force and with the Air Force Research Laboratory. Additionally, this project engineer will source subject matter expertise from within the Engineering and Technology Group to solve the customer’s hardest problems.

The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

What You’ll Be Doing

Integration of Aerospace expertise and analysis to provide responsive recommendations to Space Force and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) customer leadership for multiple, diverse on-going programs and new programs added to the portfolio Lead, communicate and coordinate across organizations, management, and customers to ensure timely, high-quality development and delivery of strategies, analyses, risk assessments and recommendations Integrate and leverage all aspects/functions/capability of the Aerospace Corporation in executing the mission portfolio through virtual teaming, backplane engagement, ETG matrix, etc. Lead a diverse team of military, government civilians, prime contractors, SE&I contractors, FFRDCs and National Laboratories. Work closely with Aerospace Labs, communities, and internal development projects to generate collaboration with AFRL projects Work with a team of Aerospace employees and government customers in development of AFRL space and ground experiments. Actively participate in customer senior decision forums. Elevate Aerospace’s strategic value to the Space Force through the objective evaluation of alternative mission designs, technical advice on Space Vehicle acquisitions, and optimized support to integration and launch.

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements Sr. Project Leader - Enterprise Systems Engineering: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited program 12 or more years of progressively responsible experience in systems engineering or program management Demonstrated leadership skills within a program office or matrixed technical organization, leading project teams, formulating task plans, ensuring product quality and effective interactions with customers, FFRDC and SETA personnel Ability to work in a self-motivated and directed manner with senior customer personnel on a variety of technical, programmatic, and administrative issues, in a customer field-office environment, is required. Leadership experience within a program office or matrixed technical organization, leading project teams, formulating task plans, ensuring product quality and effective interactions with customers, FFRDC and SETA personnel Demonstrated ability to form and lead small, high-performance teams Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills; experience presenting and writing technical information Occasional travel required This position requires the ability to obtain a TS/SCI with SSBI, which is issued by the US government. U.S citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

What You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these: Knowledge of Aerospace’s Engineering and Technology Group (ETG) skills and capabilities Knowledge of Space Force acquisitions and experience interfacing with USAF/USSF/SAF leadership Experience with program execution from initiation of acquisition strategy and proposal development through source selection support; to program design, development, integration and test; to launch and early orbit; continuing through operations. An excellent personal technical reputation and a record of personal technical achievement Program office experience Working knowledge of expertise from across the Aerospace corporation, especially subject matter experts and laboratory operations with the ability to support customer needs

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) $155,900.00 - $233,900.00 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

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

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

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

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.

U.S. citizenship is required for those positions.