SDA Tracking Engineer

The Space Development Agency (SDA) was established in 2019 by the Department of Defense to define and monitor the Department's future threat-driven space architecture and accelerate the development and fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure our technological and military advantage in space for national defense.

Aerospace support for the SDA resides within Defense Systems Operations and the National Space Systems Engineering Division, which provides decision support at the enterprise level to senior Aerospace customers in the Pentagon, as well as helping to connect and align customers and Aerospace across the space enterprise. This position supports SDA's Tracking Cell, in which the selected candidate will provide expertise in Missile Warning (MW) and Missile Tracking (MT) mission architecture definition, performance evaluation, acquisition oversight, operations planning, and data processing.

This is a hybrid position in Crystal City, Virginia. This position will call for 1-2 days of on site work per week.

What You'll Be Doing

• The SDA Tracking Cell Chief and Tranche-0 (T0) and Tranche-1 (T1) Program Managers are the primary customers. This Cell has a strong relationship with other SDA Cells as well as external mission stakeholders and is focused on providing Warfighter capabilities to fill capability gaps
• This Cell provides Missile Warning (MW), Missile Tracking (MT), and Missile Defense (MD) technical leadership to SDA across all Tranches, including understanding of architectural modeling and hardware, as well as acquisition support, enterprise MW and MT stakeholder coordination, warfighter mission involvement, and ensuring that Tracking space and ground efforts fulfill warfighter requirements.
• Tracking is the primary sensing mission for SDA's National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), and a proliferated Tracking Layer is envisioned as a core component of the future MW/MT system. The SDA Tracking Cell Chief reports directly to the SDA Director. This job includes daily interaction with SDA senior leaders, FFRDCs, SETAs, and UARC personnel across all SDA program Cells (Divisions) and mission areas.
• Help to ensure SDA Tracking mission success. The SDA constellation will provide enormous resiliency in communications, sensing, and PNT from attacks against the United States and its space assets. The successful applicant will lead Tracking mission performance assessments and mod/sim activities, direct ETG subject matter expert support of these efforts, and assist in monitoring contractor execution. This position will also enable the Tracking Cell to perform high-fidelity requirements definition and mod/sim for sensor systems and processing algorithms, which are necessary to ensure successful mission operations in Tranche-1 and operational readiness for later Tranches.
• Support the SDA Tracking Chief and Segment Managers by providing MW/MT mission, threat, sensing, and algorithm expertise to guide contract execution, performance assessments, T0 and T1 operations planning, and future tranche requirement definition. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned as needed.
• Inform strategic planning of future MW/MT architecture definition and requirements trades across various orbit layers and mission elements
• Apply innovative approaches to MW/MT sensing and processing mission acquisitions and operations
• Apply commercial best practices, tactical systems engineering, and enterprise state-of-the-art mission expertise to rapidly field and demonstrate Tracking capabilities in the NDSA

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements:

• A Bachelor of Science degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field, or extensive relevant work experience, is required. An advanced degree is preferred
• 12 or more years of increasingly responsible and related engineering/scientific experience
• Relevant, progressive work experience in Missile Warning and Missile Tracking systems, architectures, data processing, and performance assessment is required
• Candidates should be able to lead, work, and communicate effectively as part of a team in a fast paced, dynamic environment, reacting quickly and providing products of consistent, high quality
• High interest, enthusiasm, and motivation in addressing future national space security challenges is required
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead cross-functional high-performance teams required
• Ability to build and/or maintain substantive rapport with Aerospace peers and government customers required
• Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes utilizing objective facts is required
• Ability to work with the Aerospace Engineering Technology Group matrix and other Aerospace program offices is desired
• Experience in systems engineering, risk assessment, and trade space exploration studies is desired
• Experience directly interfacing with customers and delivering comprehensive assessment products is desired
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are necessary - can organize complex materials and concepts in a manner that is clear and logical
• Willing to travel domestically approximately 10% of the time
• This position requires an active TS/SCI security clearance, which is issued by the US government. U.S citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• A Masters or PhD degree from an accredited program in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field
• 12 or more years of experience in space and MW/MT systems development and assessment
• Multidisciplinary experience including spacecraft and launch vehicle concept design and operation, knowledge of DoD, IC, Civil, and Commercial missions and technologies desired
• Direct experience working with SDA and a working knowledge of the SDA architecture, functional Cells, and leadership interactions

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type. A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options
• 401(k) Plan - Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire
• Flexible spending accounts
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions
• Relocation assistance
• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career
• Education assistance programs
• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other-the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. We believe that a diverse workforce creates an environment in which unique ideas are developed and differing perspectives are valued, producing superior customer solutions. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion,genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you're an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at ieo.mailbox@aero.org. You can also review The Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law and the supplement, as well as the Pay Transparency Policy Statement.