Associate Principal Director, Software Mission Solutions Subdivision (SMSS)

What You’ll Be Doing

As the Associate Principal Director of SMSS, you will serve as the senior ISCD leader in the Chantilly region, focusing on operational integration, team development, and customer engagement across all ISCD subdivisions. You will expand Aerospace’s role with East Coast customers in national security space and build partnerships across the company and community to bring the latest software engineering practices, AI technologies, and digital capabilities to our customers and engineering staff.

• Serve as the senior ISCD leader in the Chantilly region, coordinating operations, facilities, infrastructure, hiring, workforce development, and strategic planning across all ISCD subdivisions
• Build and strengthen relationships with DoD, Intelligence Community, and other National Capital Region customers to expand ISCD’s mission portfolio and impact
• Engage directly with customers to identify high-impact mission opportunities for modern software solutions and digital foundations
• Integrate prototype software capabilities into mission solutions, ensuring alignment with customer needs and operational requirements and leveraging the latest digital technologies
• Develop and implement talent strategies that attract, retain, and grow top technical talent
• Collaborate as core team member with broader ISCD leadership to ensure consistent culture, technical excellence, and operational effectiveness across ISCD

What You Need to Be Successful

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, information systems, or a related STEM field
• 10 or more years of experience with demonstrated impact leading multidisciplinary technical teams supporting complex government or national security missions
• Strong executive presence and strategic thinking, with ability to influence across organizational boundaries and drive alignment on complex initiatives
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and scale engineering teams practicing modern software development methodologies (CI/CD, microservices, cloud‑native architectures), guide architectural decisions around contemporary frameworks and technology stacks, and drive organizational strategy for integrating AI/ML capabilities into product roadmaps
• Strong customer‑facing skills, with experience partnering with government stakeholders to translate mission needs into scalable digital solutions
• Success building and leading integrated, multidisciplinary teams with a focus on reuse, scalability, and mission impact
• Experience coordinating across multiple technical organizations and fostering collaborative, cross‑functional environments
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences, and to effectively present to senior leadership
• Demonstrated ability to manage organizational change, navigate ambiguity, and drive strategic initiatives to completion
• Willingness to travel occasionally to work locations or customer sites (approximately 10–20%)
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance (TS/SCI level and higher). U.S. citizenship is required

How You Can Stand Out

• Experience establishing or growing technical organizations or operations in new geographic regions
• Track record of successful organizational transformation or culture change initiatives
• Experience building strategic partnerships with government agencies, industry partners, and academic institutions
• Experience delivering AI‑enabled mission solutions in domains such as autonomous systems, space domain awareness, cyber detection, predictive analytics, digital engineering, or physics‑informed ML
• Experience managing software portfolios, including evaluation of emerging technologies, responsible AI practices, and MLOps at scale
• Deep familiarity with secure and multi‑level environments, including cross‑domain architectures and deployment across classification boundaries
• Exposure to space, defense, or intelligence mission areas such as space control, missile warning, remote sensing, or commercial space data exploitation
• Experience managing research and development portfolios, including transitioning research into operational systems or sustained mission use
• Established relationships with National Capital Region customers in DoD or Intelligence Community space programs
• Experience with workforce planning, talent development programs, and succession planning
• Demonstrates enterprise‑level perspective with prior Program Office(s) and ETG experience

Equal Opportunity Commitment: The Aerospace Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. 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, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you are an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or needs reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at or by email You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.