AI, Autonomy & Data Director

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.

About MITRE

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services.

We're a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest.

With independence and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies - collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation's health, security, and prosperity.

Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence.

Choose MITRE for a career with purpose - and help shape the future.

Sector Summary

MITRE Labs drives mission impact by delivering nation leading and differentiated capabilities to a rich set of consequential national programs across the six Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) that MITRE leads. Our goal: develop solutions and deliver outcomes for our sponsors ensure the security, health, and prosperity of the American public. MITRE Labs applies the expertise of technical staff and subject matter experts across our work programs, fostering and developing technical talent, stewarding technical depth, conceiving and executing research, and ensuring MITRE's capabilities-people, methods, labs, platforms, and environments- are on the leading edge.

Division/Position Summary :

MITRE Labs' Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy and Data Technical Division brings together AI researchers, autonomy engineers, mission specialists, and systems experts to translate advanced research into operationally relevant solutions. The Technical Division is seeking a visionary technical leader to serve as Director. This highly visible role will define and drive the strategy, execution, and growth of AI and autonomy-enabled capabilities supporting national security and public sector missions. The successful candidate is a proven innovative and entrepreneurial technical leader who demonstrated technical expertise in artificial intelligence and autonomy, inspirational leadership, creativity, and the flexibility to work across evolving and diverse problem sets.

The Director of the Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy and Data Technical Division within MITRE Labs is responsible for cohering and leading this division in creating innovative and disruptive solutions in the public interest, while cultivating world-class technical capabilities and workforce in artificial intelligence and autonomy. The director is responsible for a range of technical, business, and talent development activities. Technical capabilities and expertise include artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous systems, AI assurance, data science, and human-machine teaming. These technical capabilities are applied across the entire range of existing MITRE sponsors and create opportunities to address broader national challenges through capability and platform development. The division translates and integrates lessons learned across multiple application domains and sponsors to continually learn and advance MITRE's impact. The division will encompass 300 or more employees in McLean, Virginia; Bedford, Massachusetts; and several other sites across the United States that support a diverse work program across multiple sponsors.

Additionally, the Director will have a role in shaping corporate strategy for internal investments in this space, including internal research and capability development to ensure MITRE is best positioned to deliver on its public service mission to its sponsors.

The Technical Director must demonstrate experience in four main areas of core capability:

Technical Excellence: The director must be credible to set and execute the technical direction of this growing division. The successful candidate must be able to critically direct, review and assess work in the areas of AI, Machine Learning, Human Machine Teaming and Autonomy. A deep technical knowledge of both the possibilities and the challenges of these emerging technologies is essential.

Entrepreneurial Solution Identification and Development: The director needs to anticipate, identify, and seize opportunities to develop and apply the division's expertise and capabilities to solve mission problems spanning MITRE's current sponsors. Additionally, the director should create new opportunities for MTIRE to address national-scale challenges beyond our current sponsors.

Collaboration and Partnership: The director needs to focus on connections with key stakeholders working in the Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy mission areas, inside the company, across our sponsor base, and with external academic and industry organizations. Demonstrated experience in building and furthering these relationships is essential to the tech center's credibility and level of excellence in this domain.

Transparency and Communications: This division is geographically dispersed and often immersed in operational settings. The director needs to establish regular, collaborative venues to communicate with staff regardless of their location. Transparency bolsters trust and confidence in leadership.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Lead the division, creating a unified vision and strategy for the organization aligned to MITRE's mission, FFRDC priorities, and S&T Strategy.
• Build strong internal partnerships with MITRE program leaders to provide needed integrated capabilities to solve sponsor problems.
• Defining, maturing, and evolving the research, technical capabilities, and platforms, and applying those to solve national challenge problems.
• Proactively identifying the major national challenges and technology opportunities appropriate for Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy and Data-enabled solutions.
• As required and in partnership, build and maintain senior sponsor relationships; shape and grow a portfolio of funded work, including proposals, strategic captures, and multiyear roadmaps.
• Workforce development and building an integrated team including recruiting and training world class talent to enable a growing work program.
• Promote a culture of technical excellence and currency, experimentation, rapid learning, and responsible risk-taking while upholding MITRE values and mission outcomes.
• Drive partnerships with industry, academia, and government labs to accelerate innovation and technology transition, and create an external brand.
• Lead end-to-end innovation delivery: concept development, research, architecture, rapid prototyping, integration, test/verification, demonstrations, and transition.
• Manage budgets, schedules, staffing plans, and resource allocation across multiple concurrent programs.
• In partnership with the division Chief Engineer and other division leaders:
  • Direct the operation of advanced laboratories and facilities
  • Oversee technical excellence and engineering rigor.
  • Develop a broad and deep IR&D program that transfers solutions to address sponsor needs.
• Ensure compliance with security, public release, lab safety, and sponsor-specific policies.

Basic Qualifications:

• Requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 12 years and a Master's degree, or a PhD with 10-years experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Strong background in various technical areas spanning AI or Autonomy including artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous systems, AI assurance, data science, and human-machine teaming.
• 12+ years of progressive engineering leadership, including leading multidisciplinary R&D/prototyping teams and complex system integrations.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience of progressively increasing size organizations
• Demonstrated success delivering prototypes or experimental systems into operational pilots, programs of record, or sponsor adoption.
• Excellent communication skills for executive-level briefings and technical decision-making.
• Active Top Secret clearance with ability to get SCI within first year.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site.
• Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS or PhD and 20+ years of related experience preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership and national and/or international credibility AI, Autonomy, Machine Learning and/or Human Machine Teaming. Demonstrated technical depth as shown by external technical stature, with a published record of research, development, scientific, and/or engineering program impact.
• Comfort with risk-taking, agility, and demonstrated ability to act as an agent for change.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage technical expertise to build and shape a portfolio of sponsor-funded programs through collaborative and effective organizational partnership.
• Active TS/SCI clearance

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:
$269,600 - $337,000 - $404,400 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.