Mission Modeling and Simulation, Principal

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 objectivity 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.

MITRE Technology and Engineering (MTE) System Engineering Technical Division is seeking an experienced, highly motivated Principal Mission Modeling and Simulation Engineer to support defense mission engineering, system of systems analysis, and decision-support activities for complex operational missions. The candidate support the decomposition of missions into mission elements, characterize operational scenarios and vignettes, develop mission threads, define mission measures and metrics, analyze baseline and alternative mission approaches, and translate analytic findings into actionable recommendations for government and program stakeholders.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Translate mission objectives, operational scenarios, constraints, and stakeholder questions into measurable modeling and simulation requirements.
• Develop, integrate, and maintain mission-level, system-of-systems, and operational models representing platforms, networks, threats, environments, logistics, and human decision-making.
• Design and execute simulation experiments, trade studies, Monte Carlo analyses, and sensitivity assessments to evaluate concepts, architectures, technologies, and capability alternatives.
• Verify and validate models, document assumptions and limitations, manage configuration and data traceability, and ensure results are credible for their intended use.
• Analyze and communicate simulation results through reports, dashboards, visualizations, and briefings that inform requirements, test planning, acquisition priorities, and mission decisions.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Experience supporting defense, aerospace, intelligence, national security, or other mission-critical technical programs.
• Experience with operational analysis tools such as but not limited to AFSIM, STK, ITASE, NGTS, STORM, etc.
• Demonstrated proficiency in programming languages and applications such as C/C++, Java, Julia, Python, MATLAB, or Mathematica.
• Experience with developing and debugging physics-based modeling and simulation tools to address research questions.
• Experience in conducting quantitative analysis of complex, operational scenarios, system dependencies, system of systems interactions, or capability gaps.
• Experience developing or supporting at least several of the following: mission threads, operational scenarios, vignettes, CONOPS, use cases, functional flows, system architectures, interface concepts, requirements, measures and metrics, run matrices, trade studies, or analysis reports.
• Ability to work with cross-functional teams that may include operators, engineers, software developers, modelers, data scientists, test personnel, subject matter experts, and government customers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Must have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance and m ust be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree and 8 years of experience in Systems Engineering, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related disciplines.
• Experience leading mission engineering workstreams or small technical teams.
• Experience supporting Joint, Service, Combatant Command, acquisition, science and technology, prototyping, test, or experimentation organizations.
• Experience developing mission architectures that connect operational mission outcomes to system-level functions, capabilities, interfaces, dependencies, and performance parameters.
• Experience defining and applying MOSs, MOEs, MOPs, key performance parameters, operational measures, technical measures, and mission outcome metrics.
• Experience conducting tradespace analysis, gap analysis, sensitivity analysis, capability assessments, portfolio assessments, campaign analysis, operational analysis, or system of systems performance analysis.
• Experience with live, virtual, and constructive experimentation; test event planning; wargaming; red/blue/green force representations; operational scenario development; or data collection in operationally relevant venues.
• Experience evaluating kinetic and non-kinetic mission operations, including one or more of the following domains: air, maritime, land, space, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum operations, communications, command and control, fires, logistics, ISR, autonomy, or integrated air and missile defense.
• Experience with data pedigree, uncertainty quantification, model verification and validation, configuration management, and curation of reusable mission engineering artifacts.
• Active DoD Top Secret clearance with SCI.

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:
$171,000 - $213,500 - $256,000 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.

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.