Lead C2 Systems Engineer

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.Department Summary:The Operational Innovation and Modernization Department (N173) partners with the Mobility Air Forces and Combat Air Forces as well as MITRE’s DoD (DoW) & Services & Mission Driven Integration Center Divisions, to include the PACOM Regional Operations Department, to inform warfighter requirements, modernization priorities, and new concepts. The department drives the rapid transformation of current and future USAF warfighter operations through rapid prototyping; digital engineering; mission analysis; innovative concept development, requirements development and application of enabling technologies; and operational and technical assessments through experimentation and field evaluations. With direct connections to warfighters, N173 informs technology innovation and capability analysis, as well as development and analysis of Concepts of Operation, mission threads, use cases, and operational requirements.Roles & Responsibilities:Develop operational mission requirements based on existing and emerging TTPs, CONOPS and technologies for consideration by sponsor organizations.Translate operational mission requirements into engineering requirements, architectural considerations, capability assessments, and technology trade studies.Contribute to broader PACAF C2 architecture and CONOPS development that improves C2 execution across PACOM, including considerations for partner integration and theater-wide mission resiliency.Assess current and emerging communications capabilities and their ability to support C2 missions in contested, degraded, intermittent, and denied environments.Execute research and analysis on SATCOM and HF use and CONOPS in theater and support Network Engineers in the development of a CONOPS for a Theater Wide HF PACE Plan.Support technical analysis of SATCOM and HF communications and develop recommendations for resilient theater communications, including approaches for operations under degraded or denied conditions.Analyze the viability, placement, connectivity, and operational utility of UHF/VHF communications nodes supporting FIC and SIC locations and develop actionable recommendations.Design Mission Engineering Threads for 613th and 607th AOC CPD and COD for the development and execution of AOC operations.Support planning and execution of selected operational exercises and experimentation activities to validate C2 communications concepts, identify gaps, and inform future architectures.Analyze DAF PAE C3BM planned capability deliveries and provide recommendations for improved sponsor outcomes, applying systems engineering methods to evaluate technology tradeoffs, operational utility, resiliency, scalability, and integration risk.Brief findings and recommendations to senior military, government, and MITRE stakeholders and facilitate decisions across organizations.Basic Qualifications:Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, software engineering, network communications or related fields; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.Excellent analytical, written, and oral communication skillsStrong interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate across multiple organizations and engineering disciplinesExperience supporting DoD (DoW), USAF, or other national security missionsExposure to current and future C2, ISR, Space, Cyber, and/or Special Operations doctrine and operationsFamiliarity of HF architectures and requirementsFamiliarity with commercial and military SATCOM terminals, antennas, and other key technologiesDemonstrated ability to collaborate and integrate across diverse teams to achieve larger outcomes than any one organization can achieve on their ownMust have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Must 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 3 days per week on-sitePreferred Qualifications:Master’s degree or higher in systems engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, network communications or related fieldsStrong knowledge of current and future C2, ISR, Space, Cyber, and/or Special Operations doctrine and operationsUnderstanding of networks, especially layers 1-4 and 7 of the OSI model.Experience working in DoD/DoW sponsor environments with frequent sponsor facing interactionsExperience with antenna certification, terminal type certification, and EIRP Spectral Density (ESD) managementExperience with aviation SATCOM or in-flight connectivity (IFC)RF Modeling and Simulation, to include link budget, performance and capacity analysis.Experience in sponsor engagement and business development to include work shaping, work management, collaboration across internal and external organizations, and transitioning prototypes to operational use.Active TS/SCI clearance eligibilityTravel: 20%.This position is eligible for participation in the Hawaii Rotational Program, which is designed to attract top-tier, mission-critical talent to support work in Hawaii. The program offers a three-year participation period and includes an annual incentive payment for eligible employees. To qualify, employees must relocate to Hawaii and charge at least 75% of their time to designated projects at the MITRE Hawaii site.This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):SecretThis requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):Top Secret/SCISalary compensation range and midpoint:$146,400 - $183,000 - $219,600 AnnualWork Location Type:OnsiteCommitment to Non-DiscriminationAll 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 View email address on click.appcast.io for general support and View email address on click.appcast.io 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.Job SummaryJob number: R117918Profession: Engineering