Surveillance & Navigation Architecture Performance Associate Director

The Aerospace Corporation; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 278,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care and wellness plans

Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

Telework options

401(k) Plan with matching

Education assistance programs

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation is seeking an Associate Director to lead the Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) portfolio within SNAPD. This senior role requires coordinating cross-team efforts, managing personnel across front office and sections, and guiding analyses to deliver context-informed insights.

100% onsite in El Segundo, CA or Colorado Springs, CO. A strong background in MS&A, PNT, and geolocation, plus an active TS/SCI clearance and U.S. citizenship, are essential for success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, astronautical, electrical engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics, or related field from an accredited institution.
• 10 years leading MS&A teams, coordinating complex technical tasks, translating customer needs into analyst instructions.
• Demonstrated strength in PNT performance evaluations, geolocation, or signals analysis and integrity.
• Active TS/SCI clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the director to cultivate a vision for the organization, identify growth opportunities, and engage with customers to expand capabilities.
• Guide development of MS&A capabilities and products to support research, development, and acquisition decisions of legacy and emerging space architectures.
• Foster a center of excellence for GEO/SIGINT/SURVEILLANCE/PNT, and signals integrity across defense, intelligence, and civil capabilities.
• Lead aggressive hiring and workforce development to support growing demand and cultivate talent pipelines.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers and collaborators, and coordinate across programs and locations.
• Coordinate complex technical tasks across multiple programs, manage resources, and ensure quality of work products.
• Work with leadership to maintain a cohesive national organization and improve processes, compliance, and safety awareness.
• Monitor, direct, and improve organizational processes and safety culture.

Skills

MS&A leadership

PNT architecture evaluation

Geolocation analysis

Signals integrity

Staff development

Customer engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace/astronautical/electrical engineering / computer science / physics / mathematics

Graduate degree (preferred)

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 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-enabled mission effects.

The Surveillance and Navigation Architecture Performance Department (SNAPD) in the Integrated Performance Subdivision aspires to be the premier force advising the evolution of national security and civil space enterprises, leveraging our modeling and simulation (M&S) expertise to evaluate end-to-end architecture performance. We are seeking an Associate Director to lead our Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) portfolio. This role will be responsible for managing and developing personnel across a front office and section, coordinating across PNT mission areas, building department capabilities and skillsets, and directing analyses that empower our teams to deliver differentiated and context-informed insights.

Work Model: This full-time position requires 100% onsite work in El Segundo, CA or Colorado Springs, CO.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Partnering with the director to cultivate a vision for the organization, including identifying opportunities for growth, engaging with customers to facilitate that growth, and developing new areas of technical expertise to meet evolving need across a geographically distributed team
• Guiding the development of MS&A capabilities and products to support recommendations for research, development, and acquisition decisions of legacy and emerging space-based architectures
• Fostering a center of excellence for the following mission areas: geo-spatial intelligence, signals intelligence, space surveillance, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems, and signals integrity, supporting defense, intelligence, and civil capabilities
• Leading aggressive hiring and workforce development initiatives to support growing customer demand, building sustainable talent pipelines in hard-to-recruit disciplines and developing staff through mentoring and coaching
• Building and maintaining a strong base of customers and collaborators for the office through effective working relationships with colleagues and government customers
• Creating an organization that promotes innovation, developing and maintaining relationships with peer organizations, creating and leading teams of multi-discipline analysts
• Coordinating complex technical tasks across multiple programs, managing resources to efficiently staff and execute projects, and ensuring quality and accuracy of work products
• Working closely with the broader subdivision and division leadership team to cultivate an effective, efficient, and cohesive national organization
• Monitoring, directing, and improving the organization’s processes, functions, compliance, and safety awareness

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements for an Associate Director:

• Bachelor’s degree with demonstrated experience or graduate degree in aerospace, astronautical, or electrical engineering, computer science, physics, operations research, mathematics, or a related field of science or engineeringfrom an accredited institution
• 10 years demonstrated experience leading MS&A teams, coordinating complex technical tasks among team members, and translating customer needs into viable instructions for analysts/development teams
• Demonstrated strength in position, navigation, and timing architecture performance evaluations, geolocation, or signals analysis and integrity
• Ability to flex communication styles for productive interactions with staff, collaborators, and customers
• This position requires a current and active TS/SCI clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government.
• U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance

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

• A graduate degree or extensive work experience in the fields of study mentioned above
• Knowledge across Intelligence Community or U.S. Department of Defense business practices, acquisition policies, or space mission portfolios
• Experience working in or directly supporting program offices, especially in technical areas related to GPS or PNT
• Experience leading geographically distributed teams across multiple locations with demonstrated success in remote staff development and operations
• A history of navigating collaborations between technical experts across multiple fields
• Prior management or leadership experience in hiring, mentoring, training, development of personnel, or cross-organization coordination
• Experience in identifying, prioritizing, and resolving technical and/or personnel issues

We offer a competitive compensation package

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) $185,100.00 - $277,600.00 Pay Basis: Annual

Leadership Competencies

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

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

• 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.

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