Description

Are you searching for meaningful work in technical efforts that enable U.S. strategic deterrence objectives to shape and prevail against threats?

Do you enjoy shaping and nurturing a varied portfolio of threat intelligence application and program protection activities that are critical to Navy and Air Force strategic deterrent systems?

Are you passionate about using innovation, emerging technology and insights to solve challenges involving the defense of the U.S. and/or allies?

If so, we are looking for someone like you to help lead the System Realization and Resilience Group (KBR) within the Force Projection Sector at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) located in Laurel MD. Our team is responsible for enabling the realization of strategic systems, ensuring resilience and specialty disciplines are integrated throughout system development, and supporting credible verification of strategic weapon systems. We lead efforts in systems engineering, system security engineering, test and integration, digital engineering, nuclear command and control, and reliability engineering.

We are seeking a Strategic Systems Program Protection Engineer to join our amazing team. Join a team of motivated and creative research engineers who bring both operational experience and technical ability. We provide vital systems engineering, cybersecurity engineering, and specialty engineering supporting the development of nationally important strategic deterrence capabilities for the Navy and Air Force. As a member of our team, you will work with systems engineers in development of program protection efforts, leveraging threat intelligence, for several critical strategic systems development programs. We are passionate about making critical contributions to these critically important programs, and you will be a key part of our success. You will contribute to a variety of complicated projects and have a direct impact on meaningful innovations for our country. With your help, we will remain at the forefront of systems engineering for the Strategic Deterrence Mission Area in the Force Projection Sector.

As a Strategic Systems Program Protection Engineer...

• Your primary responsibility will be to provide threat intelligence application and program protection expertise to the sustainment and recapitalization of U.S. Nuclear Triad and Strategic Deterrent Systems with emphasis on application of threat intelligence to the protection of development programs, or conduct of program protection efforts.
• You will work with a growing team of researchers, including systems engineering, test and evaluation, physics, cognitive science, social sciences, and cyber security who creatively apply security analysis, data science, behavioral research, and experimental methodologies to research and develop program protection activities, strategic deterrence initiatives, and acquisition/development strategy.
• You will provide technical leadership and direction pertaining applied behavioral science focused in areas such as development and analysis of program protection efforts including development of measures for analysis of effectiveness with tools and methods to enable effectiveness predictions across multi-domain activities.
• You will assure execution of tasks, and quality and timeliness of technical products through the application of best applied behavioral science practices.
• You will engage existing and potential new sponsors to define and develop new opportunities where the group can leverage its experience in support of new programs with critical challenges.
• You will research, investigate, and experiment with existing innovative technologies and look for creative new uses of software technologies to demonstrate system concepts that can be used by sponsors to identify and validate novel operational concepts.
• You will contribute to technical efforts and support program objectives focused on enabling strategic deterrence objectives.

Qualifications

You meet our minimum qualifications for the job if you...

• Master’s degree in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a closely related technical field, or equivalent years of relevant experience, along with at least 5 years of technical experience supporting Intelligence or Program Protection.
• Have a strong background in:
  • Working in or with the intelligence community, agencies, and other partners.
  • Working in or with the cyber operations community, agencies and other partners.
  • Data analysis using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
  • Statistical analysis and data management.
  • Experimental methods.
• Have especially strong verbal and written communication skills, as well as strong critical thinking skills.
• Have shown the ability to interact effectively with and lead teams, including industry and government sponsors.
• Are willing and able to travel periodically to government, contractor, and/or other agency sites up to 25% of the time.
• Hold an active Top Secret security clearance and can ultimately obtain TS/SCI level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government clearance investigation which requires you to meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

You go above and beyond the required qualifications if you...

• Have a PhD degree in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Psychology or a related social/behavioral science/area studies with at least 10 years of relevant technical experience relevant to Intelligence/Program Protection.
• Have experience with one more of the following:
  • Line, project or program leadership experience.
  • SPSS, R, or other statistical analysis software.
  • Command & Control of the Information Environment (C2IE) and/or Integrated Joint Special Technical Operations (IJSTO).
  • Trident II Strategic Weapons Systems SLBM, Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), Minuteman ICBM Systems and/or Sentinel ICBM Systems, GBSD, NC3 modernization, other strategic deterrence efforts, or and/or relevant DoD organizations.
• Have prior knowledge of Strategic Systems Program organization and processes, Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center organization and processes, and/or Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition experience.
• Have prior knowledge of Strategic Deterrence mission organizations and processes at the operational level, U.S. Strategic Command and/or Pentagon service headquarters.
• Have understanding and/or experience with Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Digital Engineering (DE).
• Demonstrated ability to set direction and implement plans to achieve goals and build capabilities including the pursuit of new initiatives and ability to engage sponsors.
• Have an active TS/SCI clearance.

Note: This listing of duties is for the purpose of describing the position and its essential functions at time of hire and may change over time.

About Us

Why Work at APL?

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) brings world-class expertise to our nation’s most critical defense, security, space and science challenges. While we are dedicated to solving complex challenges and pioneering new technologies, what makes us truly outstanding is our culture. We offer a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere where you can bring your authentic self to work, continue to grow, and build strong connections with inspiring teammates.

At APL, we celebrate our differences of perspectives and encourage creativity and bold, new ideas. Our employees enjoy generous benefits, including a robust education assistance program, unparalleled retirement contributions, and a healthy work/life balance. APL’s campus is located in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. Learn more about our career opportunities at http://www.jhuapl.edu/careers.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, occupation, marital or familial status, political opinion, personal appearance, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. APL is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals of all abilities, including those with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in any part of the hiring process, please contact Accommodations@jhuapl.edu.

The referenced pay range is based on JHU APL’s good faith belief at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, market conditions, education/training and skill level with consideration for internal parity. For salaried employees scheduled to work less than 40 hours per week, annual salary will be prorated based on the number of hours worked. APL may offer bonuses or other forms of compensation per internal policy and/or contractual designation. Additional compensation may be provided in the form of a sign-on bonus, relocation benefits, locality allowance or discretionary payments for exceptional performance. APL provides eligible staff with a comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Minimum Rate

$100,000 Annually

Maximum Rate

$245,000 Annually