Operational Planning & Posture Subject Matter Expert

Operational Planning & Posture Subject Matter Expert

The Opportunity:

Make a difference, join our Team! The Operational Planning & Posture SME is the branch's technical/functional authority for deliberate planning support and posture-related planning integration. The role defines and sustains planning-support rigor—standards, quality gates, and expert advisory—so high-visibility products remain coherent, defensible, and aligned with guidance across the Joint Planning and Execution Community (JPEC). Unlike the Senior role, the SME does not own daily suspense tracking/battle rhythm execution;

the SME intervenes where complexity, risk, or ambiguity threatens outcomes.

This position is located at Camp Smith, Hawaii.

Responsibilities:

• Define planning-support standards (templates, quality gates, staffing checklists, traceability expectations, version-control conventions) for branch-wide use
• Advise government leads on complex planning-support approaches (staffing strategy, integration paths, decision points, 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 hardest integration problems (conflicting guidance, misaligned assumptions, incomplete inputs) and recommend defensible tradeoffs and mitigation paths
• Translate policy/guidance into actionable planning inputs and posture initiative implications (as directed by government leads)
• Coach Senior and junior staff on advanced staff writing, editorial judgment, and staffing discipline through targeted reviews and exemplars
• Strengthen Operational Planning Team (OPT)/working group outcomes by shaping narratives, analytical framing, and decision-quality criteria (not meeting administration)
• Assess systemic bottlenecks and recommend repeatable improvements to reduce rework and improve first-pass acceptance (without taking over daily execution)

Qualifications:

Required:

• Master's degree (or equivalent practical experience) in a relevant field
• Career level and intermediate level military education (Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College (other service equivalents))
• 10+ years deep experience supporting joint/service planning and senior-leader decision support, including production and critical review of staff products
• Demonstrated mastery of JPEC planning forums and staffing dynamics (e.g., OPTs, joint planning groups (JPGs))
• Knowledge and application experience in the Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) and Joint Planning Process (JPP)
• Expert capability drafting/editing planning products and enforcing consistency, traceability, and formatting discipline
• Ability to comply with government workplace requirements and obtain/maintain any required access/eligibility

Strongly Preferred:

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

Skills & Competencies

• Deep functional expertise in deliberate planning support and posture planning integration
• Advanced analytic framing and problem-solving under ambiguity
• Expert-level writing/editing and product coherence management
• Influence without authority; credible advisory presence with senior stakeholder
• Standards-setting, coaching, and quality assurance mindset
• Autonomy, Decision Authority & Accountability
• Owns technical/functional standards and review thresholds for planning-support quality (government leads retain final approval authority)
• Decides when to elevate quality risks and require additional review cycles for high-visibility products

What You Can Expect:

A culture of integrity.

At CACI, we place character and innovation at the center of everything we do. As a valued team member, you'll be part of a high-performing group dedicated to our customer's missions and driven by a higher purpose – to ensure the safety of our nation.

An environment of trust.

CACI values the unique contributions that…