Operational Posture and Planning SME

Location:

Aiea, HI 96701, USA

Job Type: Full‑Time

Workspace:
On‑Site

As the Operational Posture and Planning SME, you will serve as the functional authority for deliberate planning support and posture‑related planning integration at MARFORPAC G‑5. Unlike the Senior Planner role, you will not own daily battle rhythm execution; you intervene when complexity, risk, or ambiguity threaten outcomes. You define the standards, resolve the most difficult integration problems, and ensure the branch’s most consequential products are decision‑ready before they reach senior leaders.

• Define planning‑support standards, templates, quality gates, staffing checklists, traceability expectations, and version‑control conventions for branch‑wide use.
• Advise government leads on complex planning‑support approaches including staffing strategy, integration paths, decision points, and adjudication methods.
• Perform senior technical review of high‑visibility briefs, information papers, and final planning documents to ensure clarity, consistency, and decision‑readiness.
• Resolve the most difficult integration problems, conflicting guidance, misaligned assumptions, incomplete inputs, and recommend defensible tradeoffs and mitigation paths.
• Translate policy and guidance into actionable planning inputs and posture initiative implications.
• Strengthen OPT and working group outcomes by shaping narratives, analytical framing, and decision‑quality criteria.
• Coach senior and junior staff on advanced staff writing, editorial judgment, and staffing discipline through targeted reviews and exemplars.
• Assess systemic bottlenecks and recommend repeatable improvements to reduce rework and improve first‑pass acceptance.

• Master’s degree (or equivalent practical experience) in a relevant field.
• Career level and intermediate level military education (e.g., Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, or service equivalents).
• 10+ years of deep experience supporting joint/service planning and senior‑leader decision support.
• Demonstrated mastery of JPEC planning forums and staffing dynamics (OPTs, joint planning groups).
• Expert capability drafting and editing planning products with strict consistency, traceability, and formatting discipline.
• Knowledge and application experience in the Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) and Joint Planning Process (JPP).
• Must be TS/SCI eligible, with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance with SCI access.

• Intermediate or top‑level operational planning education (e.g., JAWS, SAMS, MAWS, SAASS, Service and Joint War Colleges, or fellowships).
• Senior PME completion (e.g., CGSC/ILE, USMC CSC, Naval/Air War College equivalents).
• Prior experience with USINDOPACOM, MARFORPAC, HQMC, a combatant command, Service component, or MEF HQ.
• Doctoral degree in a relevant field.

Salary: $110,000–$130,000 annually.

Comprehensive benefits include health, dental, vision, and 401(k).

Location:

Camp Smith, MARFORPAC.

K2 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This is an immediate opening.