Project Leader, Defense Threat Reduction Agency

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity.

Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.

MITRE’s N221 Acquisition Studies & Analysis Department seeks an accomplished, proactive staff member capable of serving as project leader and technical contributor for our work supporting the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The department advances warfighter lethality, operational effectiveness, and acquisition acceleration for the Department of War. N221’s mission-focused portfolio spans several business lines—Cyber, Electronic Warfare, Installation Resilience and Operational Energy, Industrial Base and Investments, Software and Digital Modernization, Threat and Risk Reduction, and acquisition transformation initiatives.

The department leverages cutting-edge technologies, data-driven analysis, and innovative acquisition practices to ensure U.S. military superiority in contested environments. This is a 15-20 professional technical staff project comprised of multiple complex tasks across a large agency.

You will engage and lead MITRE peers from a variety of disciplines, and potentially advise officials from the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW), Services, Special Military Units, and Combatant Commands to further advance their mission to counter, reduce, and defend against nuclear, chemical, biological, radiological, and related threats to safeguard the Nation and protect our warfighters. Current and potential future efforts include

Technical assessments and reviews of emerging threats/technologies

Prototyping hardware/software capabilities

Preparation for (and application of) artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML) on unclassified and classified data sets to support analyst decision-making

Specialized capabilities to support resiliency assessments and red teams

Enterprise data modernization efforts

Leveraging systems engineering for CWMD portfolio analysis

Assessing cybersecurity vulnerabilities

This position requires significant (20% or more) time in-person in classified spaces, on site at MITRE and/or at government facilities in the Washington DC area.

Roles & Responsibilities :

Being the primary MITRE interface to the project’s sponsors: build/maintain trusted relationships with key government leaders and stakeholders.

Being accountable for the overall execution of the project’s work program: negotiate entry/exit of major tasks; onboarding of new staff; select Task Leaders, serve as their mentor/advisor, and provide performance feedback; maintain staff plans and budgets to ensure delivery within allocated resources; and ensure major milestones are met on time, within resources, and to sponsor expectations.

Leading by example: personally contribute to (or lead the development of) one or more high impact project deliverables; long-term professional self-development to become/remain a credible MITRE voice on CWMD topics; and support continuity of operations, when necessary, as a Task Leader of last resort.

Establishing high quality of project…