Principal Jobs in McLean, VA

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.

The MITRE Communications and External Affairs organization helps MITRE communicate with clarity, consistency, and impact across the audiences that matter most to our mission. The organization leads mission and enterprise communications, external affairs, executive communications, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, events, digital channels, and reputation management in support of MITRE’s public-interest mission. It embeds domain-fluent communicators with MITRE’s mission sectors to shape the narratives, campaigns, content, and stakeholder engagement that advance MITRE’s impact.

MITRE Technology and Engineering (MTE) drives the organization’s technical and engineering excellence. It houses most of the company’s personnel, laboratories, hardware and software tools, and differentiated technical capabilities. Additionally, it manages research engagement programs for the company, including the independent R&D program, federal grants, and partnerships with industry, universities, and private capital. While MITRE’s business units are the mission voice of the organization, MTE’s communications focus more on cross-cutting technology topics.

Roles & Responsibilities:

MITRE is seeking a senior, technically fluent communications leader to serve as the communications Principal for the innovation centers that underpin the technical support MITRE provides to critical missions across the federal government.

This leader will develop and drive end-to-end communications strategy for MITRE Technology and Engineering, helping translate complex applied science, engineering, and advanced technology work into clear, credible, and compelling narratives. The work should help sponsors, policy stakeholders, industry partners, academic collaborators, employees, and other key audiences understand how MITRE’s technical expertise, labs, platforms, partnerships, and objective insights strengthen U.S. scientific, technological, economic, and national security leadership.

The ideal candidate can operate as both a trusted advisor to senior leaders and a hands-on communications practitioner. They must be able to work credibly with executives, Fellows, technical experts, sponsor-facing leaders, government affairs partners, and communicators across MITRE. Technical fluency is essential, including the ability to understand scientific research, engineering concepts, emerging technologies, innovation pathways, policy sensitivities, and the audiences MITRE must reach across government, industry, academia, and the broader technology ecosystem.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the communications for MTE including audience planning, channel strategy, content execution, executive support, stakeholder engagement, measurement, and after-action improvement.
• Shape proactive communications campaigns around a focused set of priority science, technology, and innovation topics, including applied science, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, quantum, cyber, space, engineering, labs, platforms, and other areas where MITRE can strengthen U.S. mission, scientific, and economic leadership.
• Translate complex technical, scientific, engineering, policy, and mission content into clear communications products, including executive messaging, talking points, briefing materials, web and social content, stories, releases, videos, fact sheets, FAQs, presentations, proof points, and plain-language value propositions.
• Serve as a strategic communications advisor to MTE executives, leaders, Fellows, and subject matter experts on messaging, narrative, stakeholder engagement, public affairs, media engagement, strategic visits, crisis communications, and reputational risk.
• Coordinate across Communications and External Affairs, mission communicators for each business sector, public affairs, government relations, digital, events, protocol, executive communications, and MTE teams so communications are aligned, timely, consistent, and not fragmented by channel or function.
• Define and track practical measures of communications effectiveness, such as message pull-through, stakeholder engagement, executive readiness, content reuse, audience understanding, campaign progress, and risk reduction.
• Operate as the embedded communications principal for MTE while connecting back to the broader Communications and External Affairs function, ensuring shared messaging, coordinated planning, consistent standards, a unified voice across channels, and a practical no-surprises communications culture.

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.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, public affairs, science communication, engineering, technology policy, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing communications strategies for complex organizations, portfolios, programs, or mission areas, including narrative development, audience strategy, channel planning, content execution, executive communications, stakeholder engagement, and measurement.
• Experience translating technical, scientific, scientific, engineering, policy, or mission-oriented information into clear and compelling communications for non-technical audiences.
• Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to produce executive-ready content under tight timelines.
• Ability to advise senior leaders and operate with credibility, discretion, and sound judgment in executive-level settings.
• Experience managing multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deliverables in a dynamic environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including active listening, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and the ability to build trust across technical and non-technical teams.
• Ability to choose the right communications approach for the objective, including executive communications, internal communications, media and public affairs, digital content, events, stakeholder engagement, thought leadership, and reusable messaging assets.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including as a strategic lead, partner to other communicators, and hands-on individual contributor.
• Demonstrated ability to use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and effectively to improve communications planning, research, drafting, editing, content development, workflow efficiency, and measurement, while applying sound judgment, accuracy checks, and appropriate safeguards for sensitive information.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret 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:

• Experience working in or with FFRDCs, federal agencies, research institutions, advanced technology organizations, national labs, academia, or other mission-driven technical environments.
• Domain knowledge or communications experience in applied science, engineering, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cyber, space, biotechnology, microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, systems engineering, or other emerging technology areas.
• Experience supporting technical leaders, scientists, engineers, Fellows, or senior experts in communicating complex work to government, industry, academic, media, employee, or public audiences.
• Experience supporting strategic visits, executive engagements, public affairs, government affairs, congressional or administration-facing engagement, or policy-sensitive communications.
• Experience building reusable messaging infrastructure, such as message frameworks, proof-point libraries, executive briefing packages, FAQs, talking points, and stakeholder-ready materials.
• Experience measuring communications outcomes, not just activity or output.
• Active Secret security clearance

Success in This Role

Success in this role means helping MITRE Technology and Engineering communicate with greater focus, clarity, and influence. This leader will help make MITRE’s applied science and advanced technology work understandable, relevant, and actionable for the audiences that matter most. They will connect technical breakthroughs to mission outcomes, strengthen executive and stakeholder trust, and help position MITRE as a national asset for disruptive innovation, whole-of-government problem solving, and whole-of-nation impact.

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

None

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

Secret

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$147,500 - $184,500 - $221,500 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.

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.