Principal PNT Engineer

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MITRE’s Transportation Automation Evolution department is seeking a nationally recognized Principal Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Engineer to help shape the future of aviation navigation and resilient PNT capabilities for the FAA and the broader transportation enterprise. This role is intended for a technical leader who can advise government sponsors, lead complex modernization efforts, build trusted relationships, and translate emerging PNT technologies into practical mission outcomes for the National Airspace System.

This is a technical leadership role focused on shaping the future of positioning, navigation, timing, and resilient navigation capabilities in the National Airspace System. The selected candidate will serve as a trusted technical advisor, task leader, and strategic contributor across MITRE’s transportation portfolio. They will lead complex technical efforts, advise senior government sponsors, mentor technical staff, and help identify and develop new work aligned with emerging mission needs.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in PNT technologies, aviation navigation systems, GNSS, resilient navigation, timing, spectrum considerations, and system modernization. They should also be comfortable operating at the intersection of technical strategy, sponsor engagement, program development, and cross-organizational collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership and Systems Modernization

• Lead complex technical efforts focused on positioning, navigation, timing, resilient navigation, and aviation system modernization for FAA, DOT, and other transportation sponsors.
• Develop technical strategies, system concepts, architectures, roadmaps, and transition approaches that support the evolution of aviation navigation capabilities.
• Provide technical guidance on modernization of navigation infrastructure, operational capabilities, and supporting technologies within the National Airspace System.

PNT, Resilient Navigation, and Spectrum Expertise

• Serve as a subject matter expert in PNT systems and technologies, including GPS/GNSS, alternative and complementary navigation systems, inertial navigation, precision timing, atomic clocks, timing distribution, spectrum considerations, and emerging resilient PNT technologies.
• Assess technology options, operational impacts, implementation risks, and transition pathways for future navigation and timing capabilities.
• Evaluate the resilience, performance, interoperability, and operational suitability of candidate PNT solutions.

Sponsor Engagement and Trusted Advisor Support

• Serve as a technical advisor to FAA, DOT, and other government sponsors, helping them assess mission needs, technology alternatives, modernization strategies, and acquisition or implementation options.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with government stakeholders, industry partners, and MITRE collaborators across departments, centers, and projects.
• Translate complex technical issues into clear, actionable recommendations for technical, operational, and executive audiences.

Cross-Organizational Collaboration

• Work with FAA engineers, program managers, operational stakeholders, MITRE project teams, and external partners to align technical solutions with sponsor priorities and mission outcomes.
• Form and lead cross-functional teams to address complex navigation, timing, spectrum, and aviation modernization challenges.
• Coordinate across technical disciplines including systems engineering, communications, surveillance, spectrum, cybersecurity, modeling and simulation, safety, operations, and acquisition.

Strategic Growth and Business Development

• Contribute to strategic planning for PNT-related work across MITRE’s transportation and public-sector portfolios.
• Identify, shape, and help capture new work opportunities by aligning MITRE capabilities with evolving sponsor priorities, mission gaps, and technology trends.
• Develop technical concepts, white papers, briefings, proposals, and sponsor engagement strategies that expand MITRE’s impact in aviation and transportation modernization.

Technical Mentorship and Communication

• Mentor engineers and project teams across multiple efforts, helping strengthen technical quality, systems thinking, and sponsor impact.
• Communicate complex technical concepts through executive briefings, technical reviews, white papers, strategy documents, and sponsor engagements.
• Represent MITRE as a technical leader in appropriate government, industry, and international forums.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, systems engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science, or a related technical field with 10 or more years of relevant experience ; or a master’s degree with 8 or more years of relevant experience ; or a PhD with 5 or more years of relevant experience .
• Significant professional experience in positioning, navigation, timing, navigation systems, timing systems, aviation systems, or related mission-critical infrastructure.
• Demonstrated technical leadership experience, including responsibility for system analysis, architecture development, technology assessment, system design, implementation planning, or transition of complex technical capabilities.
• Strong technical knowledge of PNT technologies, such as GPS/GNSS, RF navigation systems, inertial navigation systems, precision timing, atomic clocks, timing distribution, resilient PNT, and spectrum-dependent systems.
• Experience advising senior technical, operational, or program stakeholders on complex engineering or modernization decisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior leaders, technical experts, operational users, and program managers.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and collaborate across organizational boundaries.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a FAA Suitability U.S Government issued Security Clearance within one year of hire.
• 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 50% hybrid on-site

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, systems engineering, physics, applied mathematics, or a related field.
• Deep expertise in multiple PNT-related areas, including GPS/GNSS, aviation navigation systems, RF navigation, signals of opportunity, inertial navigation, timing distribution, atomic clocks, assured or resilient PNT, and spectrum considerations.
• Experience supporting FAA, DOT, Department of War, international air navigation service providers, or other transportation, aviation, or national infrastructure sponsors.
• Existing relationships with FAA, DOT, aviation navigation, or resilient PNT stakeholders.
• Recognized technical leadership in PNT, GNSS, resilient navigation, aviation navigation modernization, timing systems, spectrum, or related fields.
• Experience developing technical strategies, shaping sponsor work programs, growing sponsor portfolios, or supporting capture of new technical work.
• Experience with one or more of the following: technology assessment, system architecture, mission engineering, modeling and simulation, experimentation, requirements analysis, operational analysis, safety analysis, or transition planning.
• Experience forming and leading cross-functional teams across government, industry, academic, or international organizations.
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments where technical, operational, policy, and programmatic considerations must be balanced.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):

Suitability - FAA

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):

None

Salary compensation range and midpoint

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

Work Location Type

Hybrid

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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