General Dynamics Mission Systems has an immediate opening for a Mission Architect focused on embedded security, anti-tamper, operating system and hypervisor security, avionics, and tactical radios and networks. This role pairs deep technical mission architecture with business development responsibility: the successful candidate will serve as a principal technical authority who shapes government customer requirements, architects winning technical solutions, and leads capture of new government-funded R&D programs. This is an opportunity to grow a portfolio of defense cyber R&D and anti-tamper business by combining credible technical leadership with the relationship-building, capture, and proposal skills of a business development leader. General Dynamics Mission Systems employees work closely with esteemed customers to develop solutions that allow them to carry out high-stakes national security missions.
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES AND TASKS
- Directs business development activities for embedded security, OS/hypervisor security, and anti-tamper R&D offerings to government agencies and firms performing government business
- Serves as principal technical architect and capture manager for assigned new-business opportunities, translating mission needs into research roadmaps, technical solutions, and win strategies
- Maintains key business development and technical relationships with government program offices, research laboratories, defense industrial base primes, and subcontractor teams
- Partners with account teams on fielded embedded security and anti-tamper programs to identify incremental sustainment and technology-refresh opportunities, while prioritizing new R&D program capture
- Evaluates and manages new business opportunities, initiatives, partnerships, alliances, and joint ventures in secure computing, embedded OS, avionics, and tactical networking
- Oversees market analysis, monitors competitive R&D activity, and identifies emerging mission gaps and new program starts across the embedded security and anti-tamper customer base
- Defines vision, strategy, and tactics for assigned business development pursuits, including technology roadmaps spanning embedded security, secure processing, anti-tamper, and cyber resilience
- Authors and directs proposal development for government R&D opportunities, drawing on direct technical expertise to strengthen technical volumes and win themes
- Advises higher management on status and recommended action for existing and potential business development opportunities across the embedded security portfolio
- Provides technical and business leadership in the planning, design, due diligence, and implementation of strategic objectives for the embedded security and tactical systems portfolio
- Represents the company at technical conferences, industry days, and government technology demonstration events
- Leads and mentors multidisciplinary engineering teams supporting technical capture and solution development
- Develops and monitors profitability, productivity, and growth targets for the assigned technology and business area
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
- Demonstrates tremendous experience defining and executing successful strategies to grow government R&D business in embedded security, anti-tamper, or related technical domains
- Able to articulate examples of having conceived, architected, and led novel technical research efforts through to funded programs and transitioned capabilities
- Able to articulate examples of having identified, pursued, and won large capture efforts in areas related to GDMS business
- Possesses broad market awareness, including government budgets, customer priorities, mission gaps, and market dynamics across embedded security and anti-tamper
- Credible as a technical authority among engineering peers, program customers, and executive leadership on operating systems / hypervisors, anti-tamper, and embedded security topics
- Demonstrates tremendous interpersonal, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills; thrives in a highly interactive team environment spanning technical, program, and business development functions
- Recognized ability to build relationships with senior-level customers and internal counterparts
- May require an understanding of international business and export processes
- Works well under pressure with the ability to simultaneously deliver on multiple tasks and priorities
- Top level of management below the Executive Team, usually reporting to a Vice President; directs the activities of a functional area, business area, or major program through lower management levels
- Participates with other senior managers to establish strategic plans and objectives; expected to make final decisions in conjunction with the Executive Team on business, operational, or programmatic matters
- Works on complex technical and business issues where analysis requires in-depth knowledge of the company and of embedded security domain
- Regularly interacts with executives and/or major customers, conducting business and technical briefings for senior and top management and external representatives
- Interactions frequently involve negotiating with customers, partners, or management, and influencing senior-level leaders regarding matters of significance to the organization
- Performance metrics visible at the GDMS, business, or functional level; erroneous decisions will have a serious impact on the overall success of functional, division, or company operations
- Has overall control of planning, staffing, budgeting, and managing expense priorities; responsible for managing people, including performance evaluations, pay increase recommendations, and hire/fire decisions
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent is required plus a minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience generating and capturing government-funded research and development business; or Master's degree plus a minimum of 8 years of demonstrated experience.
- Minimum of 10 years of experience authoring and leading proposal captures for government-funded research and development programs, with demonstrated success winning funded awards
- Minimum of 5 years of experience serving as a principal investigator or technical authority on funded government research efforts
- Experience leading or directly contributing to multiple concurrent government research programs
- Direct, hands-on research and engineering experience — not solely oversight or program management — in at least two of the following mission areas: operating system or hypervisor security; embedded or tactical computing platform security; avionics or other flight-safety-critical embedded systems; tactical radio and tactical network systems
- Direct experience developing, integrating, or transitioning Anti-Tamper (AT) or cyber security technologies into customer systems, including familiarity with DoD Anti-Tamper policy and DoD Cyber Security / Zero Trust policy
- Experience growing and leading a technical team supporting research capture and / or program delivery
- Experience directing or technically evaluating subcontractor support on government research programs
- Working knowledge of government contracting and acquisition practices
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Direct, hands-on research and engineering experience spanning all the mission areas above — operating system/hypervisor security, embedded/tactical platform security, avionics, and tactical radio/network systems — rather than a subset
- Graduate degree with a completed thesis or other sustained research effort directly relevant to secure systems, distributed systems, or network security
- A record of authored or co-authored technical publications or conference proceedings in relevant government or industry venues
- Experience curating and presenting research at government-sponsored technology demonstration events (e.g., Service-sponsored conferences, rodeos, technology interchange meetings, or similar government/industry technical forums)
- Experience growing an internal research organization from an individual-contributor effort into a multidisciplinary engineering team, including mentoring staff into senior or technical-lead roles
- Experience serving as a technical interface across multiple simultaneous government customer contracts and organizations
- Background spanning both classified defense program work and product-oriented R&D transition into fielded or commercial capabilities
- Familiarity with GDMS Idaho Scientific's product portfolio, including Helios, Bedrock, and Keystone
