Project Leader Jobs in Virginia

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The MITRE Expeditionary and Asymmetric Operations Department (N233) is seeking a strategic, technically accomplished, and sponsor-focused Naval Digital Infrastructure & Services Project Leader. The selected candidate will lead and shape an approximately 26-FTE work program in FY2027 supporting the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Mission Systems (PAE MS) Digital Infrastructure & Services Portfolio. The project comprises three separate but related tasks: Naval Enterprise Networks (NEN), Marine Corps Enterprise Networks (MCEN), and Manpower IT Systems Modernization (MITSM).

The Project Leader will play a critical role in strengthening MITRE's position as a trusted partner in naval digital modernization, enterprise network and service delivery, secure data architecture and resilience, and manpower IT modernization. The position will align MITRE's defense acquisition, systems engineering, enterprise IT, cybersecurity, architecture, data analytics, and artificial intelligence expertise with sponsor priorities to deliver robust mission outcomes for PAE MS and its Navy and Marine Corps warfighting customers.

As a senior leader in N233, the Project Leader will collaborate with task leaders, department and division leadership, and geographically distributed staff across the corporation. They will integrate outcomes across the larger project, resolve cross-task dependencies, align staffing and resources, maintain overall project health, and ensure that MITRE brings an objective, technically rigorous Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) perspective to the sponsor's most consequential challenges.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic, technical, acquisition, and operational leadership for the Digital Infrastructure & Services project, integrating NEN, MCEN, and MITSM into a coherent work program aligned with PAE MS priorities and warfighter needs.
  
• Maintain a deep understanding of PAE MS's mission, portfolio structure, acquisition environment, technical priorities, and customer needs, including the relationships among enterprise networks, digital services, data, cybersecurity, manpower systems, and operational readiness.
  
• Work side by side with senior Navy and Marine Corps sponsors to identify the right problems, define desired outcomes, shape project tasks, and establish technically sound deliverables that create measurable mission impact.
  
• Lead through the NEN, MCEN, and MITSM Task Leaders. Set clear cross-project priorities; coordinate outcomes, staffing, budget, schedules, and shared technical resources; manage dependencies; and hold the integrated team accountable for delivery.
  
• Connect technical products and recommendations to acquisition decisions, investment priorities, portfolio governance, and operational effects. Ensure clear communication of project status, findings, risks, recommendations, decisions needed, and emerging opportunities.
  
• Develop and sustain trusted relationships with senior military and civilian sponsors, program managers, technical directors, and other stakeholders.
  
• Build, lead, and shape a cohesive, geographically distributed, multidisciplinary team of approximately 26 FTEs. Establish clear expectations for task leaders and staff regarding roles, sponsor engagement, technical quality, deliverable content, schedules, collaboration, and professional development.
  
• Coordinate with people leaders to understand skill demand, define resource requests, assign staff with the right skills and development needs, and maintain accurate staffing plans.
  
• Partner with the Department Chief Engineer and other technical leaders to ensure project approaches and deliverables are objective, data-driven, traceable, technically rigorous, and consistent with MITRE quality standards.
  
• Leverage MITRE's enterprise-wide projects, technical expertise, laboratories, and independent research; engage industry, academia, government laboratories, other FFRDCs, and external partners when doing so accelerates sponsor outcomes.
  
• Deliver high-quality technical products and actionable recommendations on time and within budget. Surface risks and challenges early, develop mitigation plans, and meet contractual commitments for cost, schedule, and performance.
  
• Perform project administration, contract and task-order management, staffing forecasts, budget development, financial planning, risk management, and performance monitoring.
  
• Support program execution reviews and provide leadership with accurate insight into project health and outcomes.
  
• Provide timely performance feedback; support effective onboarding and staff development; foster a collaborative, adaptable, respectful, and high-performing project environment; and anticipate emerging PAE MS needs to shape future FFRDC opportunities and enduring mission impact.

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 an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
  
• Bachelor's degree in systems engineering, engineering, computer science, information systems, cybersecurity, data science, operations research, business or acquisition management, or a related technical field.
  
• Demonstrated Department of War acquisition experience, including work with acquisition organizations and technical stakeholders to translate mission needs into acquisition strategies, requirements, architectures, technical plans, or investment decisions.
  
• Demonstrated systems engineering experience across complex programs or enterprises, including requirements analysis, architecture, integration, technical risk management, trade-space analysis, and development of decision-quality technical recommendations.
  
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multifaceted technical projects or work programs with multiple concurrent tasks, multidisciplinary teams, interdependent outcomes, and significant sponsor visibility. This includes the ability to manage project scope, schedule, staffing, technical quality, risk, budget, contractual commitments, and sponsor expectations across multiple concurrent tasks.
  
• Knowledge of enterprise IT and digital infrastructure and services, including one or more of the following: enterprise networks, cloud or platform services, cybersecurity, data architecture and governance, digital service delivery, enterprise applications, or IT modernization.
  
• Experience partnering with senior military and civilian leaders to identify mission needs, shape work, define outcomes, and deliver technical products or recommendations that support acquisition, portfolio, or operational decisions.
  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to build trusted sponsor relationships, lead geographically distributed teams, resolve competing priorities, and collaborate across organizational boundaries.
  
• This position is based in Quantico, Virginia, with McLean, Virginia, as an alternate work location. The selected candidate must be able to travel approximately 20% within the National Capital Region and to other Naval sites throughout the continental United States.
  
• Must have an active Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance with the ability 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 in systems engineering, engineering, computer science, information systems, cybersecurity, data science, operations research, business or acquisition management, or a related field.
  
• Direct experience supporting PAE MS, the Digital Infrastructure & Services Portfolio, NEN, MCEN, MITSM, or other Navy and Marine Corps acquisition organizations responsible for enterprise digital, network, or manpower systems.
  
• Experience leading a work program comparable in scale to approximately 26 FTEs, including accountability for staffing, financial performance, technical quality, and integrated delivery through multiple task or workstream leaders.
  
• Experience applying enterprise Agile practices, Agile acquisition, Lean Portfolio Management, value-stream budgeting, performance measurement, organizational change, or IT service management at portfolio scale.
  
• Experience with secure data architecture and governance, cyber resilience engineering, risk analysis, enterprise interoperability, or continuity-of-operations planning.
  
• Experience applying enterprise architecture, Model-Based Systems Engineering, System-of-Systems Engineering, digital engineering, mission engineering, or the Unified Architecture Framework to large-scale modernization efforts.
  
• Experience evaluating or adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, data analytics, predictive decision support, or responsible AI practices in mission or enterprise settings.
  
• Prior experience as a MITRE project leader, or comparable technical program leader, including experience shaping and sustaining high-value FFRDC work programs.
  
• Demonstrated record of mentoring staff, developing future technical and project leaders, and building inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing teams.
  
• TSSCI

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

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:

$162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 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.

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