Principal Director - GEOINT Futures Office

The National Systems Group serves as the technical advisor to the Intelligence Community and its mission partners involved in the collection and distribution of national and tactical intelligence, including electronics programs, advanced technologies, ground and communications, imagery programs, and systems engineering and launch.

The Imagery Programs Division is looking for a Principal Director for their GEOINT Futures Office. The Principal Director will lead and manage pathfinder acquisition support efforts within the Imagery Programs Division for our primary customer, NRO/GEOINT. The selected candidate will provide management oversight and orchestrate technical leadership for major acquisition programs spanning concept design through development and operation, serve as a senior point of contact for a SPO Director, and execute line management functions including staffing, mentoring, and strategic planning across the mission portfolio. The PD will be the face of Aerospace to the integrated government team and will work closely with the management team to identify programmatic, technical, and mission assurance challenges. A significant challenge will be executing the Aerospace role in a SCIF environment. The position is a direct report to the Imagery Programs Division General Manager (GM) and includes corporate leadership responsibilities and assignments. 

Work Model

This full-time position is based in Chantilly, VA and requires 100% onsite work.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading the GEOINT Futures Office (GFO) organization including setting strategy, goals and expectations, developing, coaching and mentoring, performance and development, and driving engagement and retention of talent.
• Work closely with the government leadership team to identify program technical challenges and provide timely, relevant, and high-quality solutions.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of program information to senior Aerospace and NRO managers.
• Be responsible for adjusting staffing levels, making DEI-informed hiring decisions, and supporting the staff’s career development.
• Maintain understanding of current and future customer needs via continuous interaction with Aerospace and customer leadership
• Responsible for the effective and efficient execution of all accountabilities assigned to Aerospace in the portfolio Aerospace Requirements Tool
• Establish strategic direction and objectives to the organization consistent with corporate goals, customer needs and assigned functions, and clearly communicate expectations to staff
• Encourage and curate new ideas, tools, skills, processes, and creative thinking to influence the healthy sustainment and expansion of organizational capabilities spanning concept design through development, deployment, and operation

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements for a Principal Director

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or related field.
• Strong technical leadership skills and a proven ability to form and lead interdisciplinary teams
• 13 or more years of progressively responsible, applicable experience in systems engineering or program management
• Recognized ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of corporate staff, government customers, and contractors
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Frequent travel to contractor site locations, up to 40% in accordance with mission needs.
• This position requires a current and active TS/SBI/SCI security clearance and polygraph, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• Customer specific experience with Major System Acquisitions
• Prior experience managing teams in direct support of a customer in the program office, including developing organizational strategy and goals, managing leaders or senior staff, recruitment, performance management, development of talent.
• Familiarity with the US Space Enterprise and operational concepts
• Experience and deep knowledge in multiple GEOINT functional areas such as: Radar, EO, IR, Spectral, Technology development across GEOINT domains, Satellite development and acquisition life cycle
• Work experience with mission assurance processes
• Comprehensive experience with DoD acquisition and program development processes

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change   
• Engage with Impact   
• Foster Innovation   
• Deliver Results  

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type.  A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options
• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire
• Flexible spending accounts
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions
• Relocation assistance
• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career
• Education assistance programs
• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. We believe that a diverse workforce creates an environment in which unique ideas are developed and differing perspectives are valued, producing superior customer solutions. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at ieo.mailbox@aero.org. You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal, as well as the Pay Transparency Policy Statement.