Division Head, Guidance and Control Technology; FACULTY

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

We are seeking a Division Head for the Guidance and Control Technologies (GCT) Division of the Undersea Systems Office (USO) at the Penn State University Applied Research Laboratory (ARL). The GCT Division serves as a research center of excellence in autonomous guidance systems for undersea weapons and uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), with a focus on advancements in sensing and tactical decision‑making technologies as well as efficiently integrating and implementing these technologies in real‑time systems.

The GCT Division consists of four departments:
Signal Processing, Tactical and Autonomous Processing, Applications Software, and Embedded Software. The Division Head will report directly to the Head of the Undersea Systems Office. The Division Head position may be filled as either a non‑tenure Research Faculty or as a Research and Development Engineer commensurate with the candidate’s education and experience. ARL is an authorized DoD Skill Bridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.

You will:

• Lead a team of fifty scientists and engineers across four departments that are engaged in the research, development, implementation, integration and testing of complex undersea guidance systems, including acoustic signal processing, tracking, classification, and data fusion
• Vehicle autonomy and tactics design, and embedded, real‑time software implementation and testing
• Develop and maintain division‑wide technical expertise in core disciplines, from early development through transition to sponsors
• Work closely with the Office leadership team to build and maintain trusted relationships with key sponsors and stakeholders, ensure the delivery of superior research products to our sponsors and develop and execute strategic initiatives
• Lead the development of proposals and projects that further our knowledge and expertise in autonomous guidance systems
• Provide project updates to sponsors and stakeholders, and lead the development of new business for potential sponsors
• Collaborate with engineers in technical areas across USO and ARL
• Oversee the planning, staffing, and execution of programs to ensure all divisional staff and faculty are appropriately and sufficiently tasked at all times
• Provide a mix of high‑level project management, engineering oversight, and technical expertise related to acoustic signal processing, vehicle autonomy/tactics, and embedded real‑time software
• Coordinate research and development activities between disciplines involving exploration, definition of scope, and identification of problems for investigation
• Recruit, develop, and retain extraordinary R&D engineering staff and faculty
• Non‑tenure faculty rank will be commensurate with education level and experience

Your work location will be fully on‑site, located in State College, PA. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process. This position will require periodic travel to remote locations in support of testing as part of a small team of researchers, engineers, and technologists.

• Principal Investigator, technical lead, or senior contributor on applied research efforts, with a record of securing and sustaining external funding in one or more of the following technical areas: underwater acoustics, signal processing, autonomous decision‑making, and software development
• Leading individual and multi‑disciplinary portfolios of research projects including developing technical concepts, writing winning proposals, staffing, conducting the…