Job DescriptionBAE Systems is seeking a strategic and highly technical leader to serve as Director of Modeling and Simulations in Huntsville, Alabama. This role is responsible for technical direction, operational outcomes, and financial oversight of a high-impact program portfolio with annual P&L responsibility between $10M and $15M. The Director will lead a team of approximately 20 senior engineers to strategically align Modeling and Simulation (M&S) capabilities with broader business unit objectives, specifically driving growth and technical excellence within the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Navy, and International market.
The successful candidate will act as a primary technical liaison, interfacing with Senior Vice Presidents and executive leadership to ensure the successful execution of critical programs.
Required Skills and EducationKey Responsibilities- Strategic Technical Governance: Establish and oversee the standards, tools, and governance frameworks required to capture, model, and deliver complex enterprise data. You will define the technical roadmap and technology stack, ensuring that M&S capabilities are scalable, secure, and aligned with long-term corporate goals.
- Operational Leadership & P&L Management: Direct the execution of multiple concurrent programs and tasks, managing budgets and resource allocation to ensure profitability and on-time delivery. You will be accountable for the financial and technical posture of your portfolio, where decisions will have an extended impact on work processes and organizational outcomes.
- Market Expansion & Business Development: Partner with business leaders to identify and capture new opportunities within the MDA market. You will translate complex engineering capabilities into strategic business value, leveraging a deep understanding of Ballistic Missile Defense architectures to differentiate BAE Systems' offerings.
- Enterprise Architecture Optimization: Lead the development of high-level data models and conceptual sub-architectures. You will optimize information flow across the enterprise by reducing redundancy and ensuring accessibility within strict security boundaries.
- Executive Liaison & Representation: Serve as a Subject Matter Expert consultant to top management on long-range planning and act as a prime external spokesperson for the organization. You will lead high-level briefings for senior customer representatives and internal stakeholders regarding operational decisions, contractual clarifications, and advanced technical strategies.
Required Qualifications- Clearance: Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.
- Education: Master of Science in Engineering (Required).
- Experience:
- Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Systems Performance Modeling, and Ballistic Missile Defense Architectures.
- At least 5 years of proven experience in business development, specifically within the defense sector.
- Demonstrated experience scaling technical capabilities from conceptual design through operational deployment.
- Technical Proficiency: Expert-level knowledge of digital engineering implementation, including the integration of physics-based modeling with digital twins and simulation pipelines.
- Leadership: Proven track record of managing multi-disciplinary teams of senior engineers and overseeing significant P&L portfolios.
Preferred Skills and EducationPreferred Education, Experience, Skills- Proven track record of managing multi-disciplinary teams of senior engineers and overseeing P&L portfolios of at least $10M.
- Professional Certifications:
- INCoP (Integrated Product Team Lead) or PMP (Project Management Professional).
- OCMP (OMG Certified Model driven Architecture Professional) or similar MBSE certifications.
- DAU (Defense Acquisition University) Level II or III certification in Engineering or Program Management.
- Strategic Leadership: 8+ years of experience, with at least 5 years in a formal leadership role managing multi-disciplinary teams of senior engineers.
- P&L Ownership: Proven experience managing a budget/portfolio of $5M+ where they were accountable for financial performance, variance analysis, and resource optimization.
- MDA Ecosystem Expertise: Direct experience navigating the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) landscape, including a deep understanding of the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) architecture and the specific technical challenges of the SSP, Aviation, or AEGIS programs.
- Digital Transformation: A documented history of transitioning a program from traditional document-based systems engineering to a Digital Engineering (DE) or Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) environment.
- Business Development: Experience leading the technical volume of winning proposals (Capture Management) for high-value government contracts.
- Technical Mastery (Solution Architecture):
- MBSE Toolsets: Expert proficiency in Cameo Systems Modeler, MagicDraw, or Sparx Enterprise Architect.
- Digital Twin Integration: Ability to architect the integration of high-fidelity physics-based simulations with system-level behavioral models.
- Data Governance: Expertise in developing enterprise data schemas and ontology standards that allow for interoperability across disparate defense programs.
- Security Architecture: Knowledge of implementing secure data exchange within classified environments (SIPR/JWICS).
- Executive Leadership:
- Executive Communication: The ability to "translate" deep technical complexity into strategic business risks and opportunities for SVPs and Government Executives.
- Strategic Planning: Ability to develop 3-to-5-year technical roadmaps that align with corporate growth targets.
- Conflict Resolution & Negotiation: Advanced skills in negotiating technical baselines and Statement of Work (SOW) boundaries with government customers to prevent scope creep.
- Mentorship: A proven ability to develop senior engineers into future technical leaders.