Department Manager for the Soldier & Weapons Systems (N214) Depa

Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges-and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day-working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities for career growth, and a culture of innovation that embraces adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and people in partnership. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE - and make a difference with us.

The Army Division (N210) is seeking a talented and experienced leader to serve as the Department Manager (DM) for the Soldier & Weapons Systems Department (N214).

The Army Soldier & Weapons Systems Department (N214) develops innovative methods addressing U.S. Army sponsor's most challenging problems by applying state-of-the-art mission engineering, scientific disciplines, analysis and prototyping, coupled with exquisite operational understanding to mature critical weapons systems under development by the U.S. Army. The Soldier & Weapons Systems department manages and oversees the activities of a wide range of sponsor projects that cover the development, fielding, training and testing of Army weapons systems across soldier, ground, air and missile defense.

The Soldier & Weapons Systems department manages and oversees the activities of a wide range of sponsor projects that are focused on defining the requirements for needed capability through close collaboration with warfighters, exploring commercial and other existing government solutions that can be leveraged, assisting the Army with applying agile acquisition techniques to accelerate fielding of capability, prototyping capabilities to demonstrate concepts and refine requirements, advancing virtual training capabilities to ensure proficiency of military operators, and streamlining the test and evaluation process.

The N214 Department Manager role is critical to the success of the Army division. The Department Manager builds competency across a diverse group of mission engineers, defense acquisition experts, operations research / system analysts, cybersecurity professionals, communications, autonomous systems and other engineering disciplines. The Department Manager and their leadership team advises senior leaders and decision-makers across the national security enterprise with evidence-based analysis to broaden visibility and provoke thought leadership and action. The Department Manager will foster partnerships across government, industry, academia, and research centers to bring objectivity, innovation, and technical excellence to help advance and impact the sponsor's missions.

The N214 Department is primarily based in Huntsville, AL, Orlando, FL, and Ann Arbor, MI sites with additional presence in the National Capital Region and the Bedford, MA campus. Department work programs focus on providing high quality technical and engineering support while maintaining and growing trusted partner relationships with senior sponsors within the Army and Department of Defense work programs.

The selected candidate will be responsible for setting the technical direction of the Department's work program portfolio, strategically shaping and executing the work programs, growing a diverse team of world-class technical and engineering talent, fostering a culture of connection and belonging among department staff, and building collaborative relationships across the sponsor community, MITRE, industry, and academia.

As the Department Manager, the candidate will be accountable to the N210 Managing Director (MD) for all aspects of the sponsor-facing and internal department operations. In addition, the Department Manager will coordinate and integrate efforts closely with partner Department Managers and MDs in the Defense & Services and Intelligence Centers and Divisions. This role will embody the recent MNS strategy update reflective of working on the most consequential sponsor problems and maximizing impact and value.

Job Responsibilities:

• Guide and be accountable for all aspects of project and department performance, including staff selection, technical quality, programmatic support, and budgetary development/execution and are supported by their management.
• Establish goals and communicating clear expectations and guidance that contribute to highest priority sponsor outcomes
• Be responsible for delivering impact in terms of both division objectives and sponsor mission outcomes.
• Collaborate with the Service Component and Intelligence DMs and/or MDs to integrate efforts across Defense & Services, Air Force, and Intelligence programs, and to align associated division and center priorities towards MNS Cross Cutting Outcomes and MNS Strategic Initiatives.
• Develop and nurture relationships with senior leaders in sponsor organizations (new and existing) - with the goal of serving as trusted advisor and guiding the respective work programs to achieve strategic goals established in concert with these leaders
• Develop and grow the department workforce talent to support the work program and cross-division needs. Evolve and shape the team in coordination with MITRE labs and other resource organizations to provide effective skill mix to address sponsor outcomes.
• Develop and grow the next generation of leadership: thought leaders, project leaders, and people leaders.
• Hire, develop, and shape the required skills, capabilities, and diversity of the department's workforce.
• Foster an environment of connection and belonging, with a focus on inclusion and diversity
• Ensure delivery of regular, constructive feedback and developmental support to Project Leaders, Group Leaders, and supporting admin / security staff members. Ensure the department staff performance and compensation management activities are fair and transparent.
• Lead by example: be the exemplary model of MITRE's Cultural / Behavioral Attributes: Speed, Risk Taking, Adaptability, Grace and Respect, and Collaboration.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Active Secret Clearance with the ability to obtain a DoD Top Secret clearance with access to Secure Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).
• Technical background in disciplines of relevance to key work program sponsors including PEO Aviation, PEO Missiles & Space, PEO Soldier, PEO Ground Combat Systems, and PEO Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation.
• Experience in acquisition, enterprise systems engineering, C4I, cyber security, information technology, communications, sensors, autonomy, missile defense and capability integration at the enterprise/dept of defense level
• Proven experience engaging senior sponsors with successful impacts and outcomes, and establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships
• Established track record in leading the delivery of data-driven technical products with the military warfighting domain, resulting in positive mission impact.
• Experience in hiring and growing exceptional technical staff and teams.
• Experience managing large technically diverse team
• Demonstrates collaboration and communication skills to support individual, team, and customer-related interaction.
• Possess excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Consistent track record of generating relevant, impactful product deliverables (including definition, completion, and technical quality), in both an individual contributor and team setting.
• A desire to continually learn and master new concepts and technologies.
• Strong critical thinking, analytic, and problem-solving skills - comfortable working in dynamic settings where task objectives may evolve or need to be shaped, or creative solutions to task impediments must be identified.
• Excellent interpersonal and technical communication skills, with the ability to write technical reports, present briefings, and persuasively speak to audiences of all backgrounds, including executives or senior customers.
• Demonstrated ability to work in an interdisciplinary team environment, establish and leverage a diverse professional network, and integrate contributions from a variety of resources (people, tools, organizations).
• This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• An advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science/Information Technology, Mathematics, natural/applied sciences, cyber security, or data sciences.
• Current/Active TS/SCI Clearance.
• Demonstrated ability to take risk and lead work with partial insights, and operate effectively autonomously
• Demonstrated ability to build collaboration across organizational units.
• Previous Department Manager, Chief Engineer and/or Project Leader experience.
• Demonstrated MITRE project and people leadership experience.

• Demonstrated experience leading analytical/assessment efforts and yielding impactful results at high levels of government and/or industry.
• Understanding of portfolio management principles or techniques, demonstrating an ability to conduct effective tradeoff analysis of cost, schedule, and performance impacts to develop and prioritize recommendations.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
Secret

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Top Secret/SCI

Work Location Type:
Onsite

MITRE is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. MITRE recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of age; ancestry; color; family medical or genetic information; gender identity and expression; marital, military, or veteran status; national and ethnic origin; physical or mental disability; political affiliation; pregnancy; race; religion; sex; sexual orientation; and any other protected characteristics. For further information please visit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website EEO is the Law Poster and Pay Transparency .

MITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE's employment process, please email recruitinghelp@mitre.org .

Copyright © 2025, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.
Benefits information may be found here