Department Manager, Fleet Modernization

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.

MITRE National Security Sector (MNS) and the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) FFRDC places significant emphasis and focus on solving challenging problems that cut across all Departments and Agencies, Industry, and International Partners. As a systems engineering and integration FFRDC, NSEC fulfills the important role of assisting the DoD in solving its most challenging problems that require integration across the Services, other DoD agencies, the Intelligence Community, and the Interagency. Boundaries between these different organizations limit the DoD's ability to discover how integration and collaboration could enable cross-cutting solutions and to identify and develop these solutions. The breadth of its connectivity, spanning warfighters and other operators, technology developers, acquisition offices, and the intelligence agencies, puts the NSEC in a unique position to help address this gap. This is an important way in which the NSEC proactively assesses capability gaps and needs by mission rather than by system or Military Service and focus on outcome rather than process.

The Naval Division (N230) is seeking an experienced and bold leader to be the Fleet Modernization Department Manager. This new department is chartered to shape the future of naval warfare and maritime dominance, enabling maritime superiority and all domain Fleet lethality in a dynamic, complex, and contested maritime environment. The position will be responsible for managing a multi-domain, multi-disciplinary team across surface, undersea, and air platforms.

The selected candidate will:

• Be responsible for strategically shaping the research and development work program to anticipate the need of a modern fleet, specifically around subsea to seabed sensing, and avoid technological surprise for the nation.
• Set the technical direction for non-traditional sea denial, and build a deeper bench of technical and domain expertise in this area.
• Ensure the core undersea warfare, surface warfare, and naval aviation provides strategic advantage to the warfighter.
• Shape into new strategic warfighting domains such as arctic/polar regional capabilities.

As Department Manager of Fleet Operations, the successful candidate will partner with the Managing Director to lead a cutting-edge team focused on developing and implementing innovative solutions to address complex national security challenges. As Department Manager (DM), the position will be accountable to the Naval Division Managing Director (MD) for all aspects of the sponsor facing and internal department operations. The DM will work with the MNS Cross-Cutting Priority Leads, Mission Centers, and Innovation Area Leads to provide additional value and increase efficiencies across work programs. The ideal candidate will have operational knowledge, technical understanding, and acquisition awareness of the most pressing mission and technology challenges facing the Navy, Marine Corps, and Joint Force as part of executing emerging Naval and Joint warfighting concepts as well as S&T strategies.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Effectively align resources to address the right parts of the right problem with the right solution, and to streamline the integration of those solutions into operational use in partnership with the Division leadership team.
• Have a deep understanding of Naval and commercial maritime solutions across subsea to seabed sensing, undersea warfare, surface warfare, and naval aviation. Leverage this expertise to translate complex technical and operational concepts into actionable work program efforts and guide the development of effective technical solutions.
• Collaborate and partner with the other MITRE Department Managers and Chief Engineers in the implementation of the D&S Center strategy and the SECNAV & CNO priorities and shaping the work in support of the MNS priorities and other DoD sponsors.

• Develop the Department implementation plan of the D&S Strategy.
• Develop and provide oversight of the work program.
• Provide constructive feedback on leadership, staff hired, staff development, and training initiatives necessary to ensure appropriate technical quality is achieved.

• Ensures delivery of regular, constructive feedback and developmental support to Project Leaders, Group Leaders, and to staff.
• Ensures that department staff performance and compensation management activities are fair and transparent
• Developing the next generation of leadership, thought leaders, project leaders, and people leaders. Ensures the hiring, development, and shaping of the required skills, capabilities, and diversity of the department's workforce
• Interface with GO and SES-level sponsors and senior MITRE leaders to develop trusted working relationships.
• Focuses on delivering impact in terms of both division objectives and sponsor mission outcomes.
• Ability to build and work across a range of business partners in MITRE, government, and industry.

• Encourage a culture of innovation, identifying emerging technologies and trends, and driving the development of innovative solutions.

• Partner with leaders and staff to develop and execute a long-term vision for work development.
• Build and maintain strong and trusted relationships with key sponsors and stakeholders, understanding their needs and delivering exceptional value.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Undersea sensing/acoustics, Computer Science, Mechanical/Aerospace/Ocean Engineering, or a related STEM field, with 12 years of relevant experience; a Master's degree with 10 years of relevant experience; or a Ph.D. with 7 years of relevant experience.
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in a technical field related to Naval Operations.
• Extensive experience in national security or related technical disciplines, with specialized expertise in one or more of the following areas: deterrence, strategic competition, cyber and information operations, interagency collaboration, economic courses of action, strategic mission needs, and command and control.
• Strong domain background in one or more areas of military and joint operations, combatant commands and their operations, undersea warfare, surface warfare, or other symmetric and asymmetric warfighting domains
• Proven ability to build, develop, and lead large, cohesive teams, demonstrating exceptional leadership in project management, communication, conflict resolution, and trust-building to achieve shared goals.
• Demonstrated collaboration and communication skills to support individual, team, and customer-related interaction.
• Experience managing cross-disciplinary teams spanning sponsors, technologies, and missions, with a focus on assessing concepts for novel national security systems and sensors in operational contexts.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality technical products and advising sponsors on critical issues to achieve strategic objectives and advance short- and long-term program goals.
• Proven ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships and strong relationships with senior sponsors across diverse organizations, driving successful impacts and outcomes.
• Active TS/SCI with SAP eligibility
• This position requires a minimum of 4-days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge and experience of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC).
• Experience as a Department Manager, Group Leader, Project Leader or similar role
• Experience working within a highly matrix organization.
• Previous SAP experience.
• Demonstrated expertise working with United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or other DoD, Intelligence Community, and Interagency government organizations, including senior government leaders, as well as diverse commercial organizations from small start-ups to large established corporations.
• Proven success working across organizational boundaries, create win-win approaches for complex multi-sponsor challenges, and manage effectively through influence to achieve successful outcomes
• History of success developing new pilots, programs, and mission applications, including navigating both internal organizational processes and government programmatic processes.
• Maturity and expertise balancing performance and mission impact against effective risk management and technical quality.
• Ability to prioritize across multiple competing demands and simultaneously handle diverse commitments to multiple stakeholders.

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

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

Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$188,500 - $235,500 - $282,500 Annual

Work Location Type:
Onsite

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law. For further information please visit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website Know Your Rights Poster .

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 for general support and collegerecruiting@mitre.org for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply.

Benefits information may be found here .

Copyright © 1997-2025, 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.