Air & Space Forces Center Chief Engineer

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.

In MITRE's Air & Space Forces Center, our mission is to solve U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force challenges through operational understanding, technical expertise, and cross-enterprise connectivity. It is all about taking on the problems and challenges our Air & Space Force sponsors bring to us and using our unique set of capabilities at MITRE to deliberately solve them. Our vision is to enable air and space superiority through data, knowledge, and decision-making. We aim to achieve dynamic and effective command and control (C2), ensuring relevant capabilities are available whenever and wherever needed. The Air & Space Forces Center (A&SFC) Chief Engineer (CE) is a deep technical leader with a proven track record of developing joint-program strategies and contributing across this lifecycle to produce innovative and high-impact solutions to a broad range of pacing mission challenges.

The A&SFC CE works in partnership with the A&SFC Vice President, Managing Directors, and the Division Chief Engineers to shape the right work that contributes to achieving the priority objectives of Center/Sector/Corporate strategies. The A&SFC CE ensures the work is done right by promoting practices to assess and continually improve technical quality in partnership with Chief Engineers across the Center and MITRE. The Center CE collaborates with counterparts across MITRE to promote, develop, and leverage MITRE platforms and technical capabilities. Given the span and complexity of the Department of Air Force mission and sponsor space, it is particularly important for the Center CE to be a catalyst for cross-cutting integration and innovation working in close partnership with the MNS Cross-Cutting Priority Outcome leads and with the MITRE Innovation program IALs to bring the best solutions and value for sponsors.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Strategy Development and Execution

• Lead A&SFC Center program development and special initiative (PDSI) investment decisions in collaboration with the A&SFC VP and division leaders to achieve the objectives of Division/Center strategies.
• Drive crosscutting solutions through participation in NSEC Capstone and MNS/crosscutting PDSI investment decisions to achieve the objectives of NSEC/Sector/MITRE priority strategies
• Drive innovative and disruptive solutions through the generation of a strong demand signal to shape the MITRE Innovation Program (MIP) strategies. Assure NSEC IR&D transitions high impact research results to NSEC sponsors
• Drive development of technical and program capabilities, including identifying new areas to develop and areas to shape out of, and help determine MITRE's technical and program strengths and weaknesses. Includes strategic planning around the technical and program strategy such as guiding investments or input into platforms across MITRE

Technical Quality

• Create, implement, and execute a Center-wide technical quality and learning culture that continually strengthens technical quality in partnership with other counterparts across MITRE
• Independently review, assess, shape, and potentially stop delivery of critical products
• Drive technical quality and lead the development of technical quality standards within a mission function/technical specialty and across a mission/technical area
• Provide input on the quality of goals and operationalization of the good growth strategy in partnership with business and people leadership, including the quality of staff hired, staff development, and training initiatives necessary to ensure appropriate technical quality is achieved

Mission Impact

• Drive MITRE and the sponsor/partner to new heights of mission impact with urgency
• Ensure that individual projects are driving change at a technical and mission level
• Provide input into Mission Value Chains (MVCs) at the appropriate organizational level while partnering with project leaders to ensure the project itself is poised for success at inception
• Enhance MITRE's external brand and achieve broader impact in key external communities

Staff Development

• Lead the A&SFC Chief Engineer Council consisting of Chief Engineers across the Center
• Mentor staff and leaders, and be able, as needed, to supervise senior principal technical staff as a work leader or direct supervisor
• Contribute to staff development, talent assessment, and planning (hiring, mentoring, and training needs), including senior staff across Centers
• Participate in defining desired culture across MITRE and the development of cultural initiatives to meet the desired culture

Partnership and Initiatives

• Identify crosscutting mission outcomes across divisions, centers, and sectors and drive increases in effectiveness and efficiency through strategic coordination and joint execution
• Create a professional network with peers across industry, FFRDCs, UARCs, National Labs, and academia to create opportunities for increased impact through partnerships
• Lead cross-organizational strategic and technical initiatives with notable complexity, potentially involving visibility with MITRE's Board of Trustees
• Partner with A&SFC Operations team to measure performance against strategic objectives

Basic Qualifications:

• Requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree in a STEM domain; or 12 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 10 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• A minimum of 10 years of leadership experience leading teams in technical domains.
• Leadership experience at the senior staff level within a division or center level and with proven track record of technical leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to build and shape a technical work program through collaborative and effective partnership with other divisions, and MITRE Labs
• Enterprise or systems engineering experience, especially owning the technical baseline and model-based systems engineering.
• Knowledge of systems integration and its complexities
• TS Clearance with ability to receive an SCI.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Post-graduate degree in applicable discipline and 15 years of related experience; Doctorate degree preferred
• Demonstrated technical leadership in relevant technical domains with a national reputation in at least one critical capability area
• Past or present service on technical or science advisory boards
• Leadership of high-level red/blue teams and other independent technical/program assessments

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

Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$226,400 - $283,000 - $339,600 Annual

Work Location Type:
Onsite

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

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.

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 © 1997-2026, 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.