Principal Acquisition Transformation Strategist

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Our nation's ability to defend the homeland, deter aggression, and build a resilient Joint force rests on our capacity to identify, prioritize, and successfully field the optimal set of effective, suitable, and survivable systems. We must re-envision national security to keep pace with advanced adversaries, leveraging the entire spectrum of the Nation's Innovation Base, while creating and leveraging a growing set of new options and authorities for accelerating Joint and whole-of-nation capabilities.

That's where MITRE's Acquisition Studies & Analysis (ASA) Department comes in. We are a diverse group of defense acquisition experts, operations research / system analysts, cybersecurity professionals, and communication systems engineers- all with a united passion to solve problems for a safer world. We're experienced professionals who advise senior leaders and decision-makers across the national security enterprise. Our evidence-based work garners visibility and provokes thought and action. We're team players who build partnerships across government, industry, academia, and research centers.

And above all - we bring objectivity, innovation, courage, and technical excellence to help our sponsors make the right decision.

Roles & Responsibilities

MITRE's ASA Department seeks a well-connected and recognized expert on defense acquisition and innovation. The ideal candidate will be a credible authority on defense acquisition, emerging technologies, and national security processes You will belong to a high-performing team that regularly initiates and implements projects in support of sponsors' strategic initiatives, often before a sponsor can fully recognize or articulate that they are needed. The team may publish, speak at high visibility events, and advise senior government officials.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead transformation in how defense acquisition processes operate within existing statutory and regulatory frameworks. This role contributes acquisition process expertise that complements technical modernization leaders; and it includes streamlining governance, reducing friction across requirements, engineering, acquisition, and budgeting processes, and enabling adoption of modern acquisition approaches to facilitate continuous capability delivery.
• Shape and scale acquisition execution models across sponsor portfolios to better enable incremental capability delivery and continuous value realization.
• Advance acquisition approaches that improve software acquisition execution and enable interoperable, mission-ready capabilities across the Department of War.
• Influence governance structures, decision forums, and oversight approaches to align acquisition control mechanisms with modern engineering and delivery practices.
• Design practical execution architectures that integrate requirements, funding, contracting, engineering, test, and sustainment into synchronized delivery systems.
• Partner with engineering leaders to ensure acquisition strategies reinforce - rather than constrain - DevSecOps, iterative development, and platform-based approaches.
• Reframe performance management from milestone completion toward measurable delivery outcomes.
• Identify systemic barriers within acquisition structures (organizational, financial, cultural, or procedural) and implement pragmatic transformation strategies that improve portfolio throughput.
• Guide sponsors in structuring acquisition pathways - including Software Pathway, hybrid models, and alternative contracting mechanisms - to accelerate transition from prototype to continuous capability delivery.
• Advise senior leaders on portfolio-level prioritization, sequencing, and risk trade-offs to improve capability delivery performance.
• Contribute to development of repeatable frameworks, playbooks, and reference models that can be applied across multiple sponsors to institutionalize modernization gains.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to program teams and senior leaders.
• Proactively help sponsors identify and shape modernization opportunities.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships across sponsors, FFRDC partners, industry, and academic stakeholders to support integrated modernization efforts.
• Serve as an active member of multidisciplinary teams integrating acquisition, engineering, and delivery expertise to improve capability outcomes.

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.
• Demonstrated experience navigating or improving DoW acquisition processes in programs, portfolios, or enterprise settings.
• Working knowledge of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF), including the Software Acquisition Pathway, and related requirements and resourcing processes.
• Practical knowledge of acquisition mechanisms such as OTAs, FAR-based strategies, and innovation pathways to enable adaptive delivery approaches.
• Experience implementing modern acquisition approaches in traditional acquisition or AAF environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional working groups and drive change across organizational boundaries with measurable improvement.
• Experience supporting or implementing governance improvements.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to operate in dynamic sponsor environments with evolving objectives.
• Active DoD Secret clearance
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Willingness to support hybrid on-site engagement as required by sponsors.
• This position requires a minimum of 50% hybrid on-site presence.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with the DoW software acquisition pathway supporting critical acquisition modernization or reform
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Top Secret clearance with access to Secure Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).
• Private sector experience defense, technology, or consulting industries.
• Experience working with OSD Research and Engineering and/or Acquisition and Sustainment staffs.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain and leverage a strong professional network to provide thought leadership across the acquisition enterprise.

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):

Secret

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$173,200 - $216,500 - $259,800 Annual

Work Location Type:

Hybrid

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.

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