Sr. Director of Capability Development

Location: McLean, Virginia

Job Description
The Sr. Director of Capability Development ensures the engineering readiness, technical excellence, and rapid-execution capability of the A3 innovation portfolio. This role establishes, leads, and scales a multi-disciplinary engineering organization-software, AI/ML, cyber, systems, and hardware-that serves as the execution engine for rapid-cycle R&D. Operating at the intersection of engineering leadership, talent strategy, and innovation velocity, the Sr. Director ensures that engineering teams are ready on day one of project funding and are capable of delivering high-quality capability at startup speed. This position partners closely with business leaders and leaders throughout the Innovation and Strategy Organization.

Areas - Responsibilities

Development Workforce Readiness & Resource Alignment

• Build, scale, and sustain a high-readiness engineering organization capable of rapid-cycle R&D execution.

• Maintain a bench of cleared, technically current engineers ready to mobilize onto funded efforts within days.

• Forecast engineering demand by working with CTOs, innovation cells, Principal Investigators, and the federated innovation network.

• Coordinate resource planning closely with the Operations Lead to align staffing with funding timelines, gate reviews, and portfolio priorities.

Technical Leadership & Engineering Rigor

• Establish engineering standards, quality gates, and development practices tailored for fast-paced R&D environments.

• Champion modern engineering disciplines including DevSecOps, CI/CD, IaC, automated security, containerization, MBSE, and agile hardware prototyping.

• Ensure engineering execution remains compliant with security, clearance, and technical review requirements-even at high velocity.

Execution of A3 Strategy

• Translate the sector’s AI, Automation & Autonomy strategy into executable engineering action.

• Embed AI-native engineering practices across teams: LLM-assisted development, automated analysis, generative design, agentic architectures, and autonomous systems patterns.

• Accelerate delivery through adoption of AI-assisted engineering tools and modern development environments.

Capability Ecosystem Integration

• Serve as the primary engineering interface to CTOs, innovation cells, Principal Investigators, and R&D sponsors.

• Scope engineering execution plans, technical pathways, and system integration approaches for incoming efforts.

• Provide monthly engineering readiness, velocity, and risk insights to the Operations Lead for MBR, QBR, and technical reporting cycles.

• Collaborate with the Operations Lead to maintain transparency, predictability, and alignment across organizational stakeholders.

Talent Development & Culture Building

• Recruit, grow, and retain world-class engineering talent.

• Create career paths emphasizing technical depth, cross-domain versatility, and impact on fielded capability.

• Lead continuous learning: certifications, rotations, hackathons, conference participation, and hands-on experimentation.

• Foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, integrity, and mission connection.

Rapid Project Lifecycle Execution

• Oversee engineering execution across projects that start, deliver, transition, or sunset in months.

• Ensure efficient onboarding, knowledge transfer, and close-out processes to preserve institutional knowledge and reusable IP.

• Develop repeatable playbooks for spinning up and winding down engineering teams without loss of momentum.

Core Competencies Track Record of Delivery

• Demonstrated ability to stand up engineering teams that consistently deliver technical capability on compressed timelines.

• Experience operating at “innovation speed”-months, not years.

• Ability to bridge strategy and execution, connecting CTO/PIs with engineering teams and ensuring alignment from concept through delivery.

Modern Engineering Mindset

• AI-native leader-builds teams that use AI tools daily.

• DevSecOps-first practitioner with demonstrated CI/CD and IaC expertise.

• Systems thinker leveraging MBSE, integration discipline, and interface rigor.

• Continuous learner and teacher who embeds professional growth into organizational culture.

Leadership Character

• Builder’s mentality-energized by creating teams, processes, and culture from the ground up.

• Talent magnet-respected by engineers and capable of attracting top cleared talent.

• Calm under velocity-effective in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.

• Mission-connected-aligns engineering output to warfighter needs and operational impact.

Measures of Success Success in this role will be measured by:

• Engineering Readiness: Ability to maintain a ready-now bench of cleared engineers aligned to forecasted R&D demand.

• Delivery Velocity: Demonstrated acceleration of R&D timelines without sacrificing rigor, security, or quality.

• Modernization Adoption: Organization-wide adoption of AI-native and DevSecOps engineering practices.

• Cross-Functional Coordination: Effectiveness in synchronizing with CTO, Investment Principal Investigators, Innovation Leads, and the CSO Operations Lead.

• Engineering Quality & System Discipline: Demonstrated system thinking, MBSE adoption, and integration quality across efforts.

• Leadership & Culture: Ability to inspire, grow, and retain top technical talent inspired and ready for velocity of development in an Agentically empowered cadence.

• Impact on A3 Strategy: Translation of strategy into real, fielded engineering capability.

Working Conditions

• Onsite in McLean, VA (with potential evaluation of out-of-region candidates able to travel 50%+).

• Occasional travel to other BAE Systems sites, partner facilities, and stakeholder meetings.

Required Education, Experience, & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.

• 15+ years in engineering/leadership roles, including 5+ years leading multi-disciplinary team management.

• Experience executing rapid-cycle R&D in defense, aerospace, advanced prototyping, or adjacent mission areas.

• Strong understanding of AI/ML frameworks, autonomy, cyber engineering, and human-machine teaming.

• Deep fluency in at least two of the following: software engineering, AI/ML, cybersecurity, systems engineering, hardware/embedded systems.

• Systems Engineering skillset with experience on Hardware / Software Integration in Mission Systems.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance. TS/SCI Preferred.

Preferred Education, Experience, & Skills

• Experience in scaling innovation labs, corporate R&D, or advanced prototyping organizations.

• Certifications such as INCOSE, Lean/Six Sigma, SAFE Agile.

• Experience with Agentic Development, Cloud Deployment/Security, DevSecOps Toolchains, MBSE Platforms, Jira/Atlassian.

• Preferred Active TS/SCI.

Pay Information
Full-Time Salary Range: $173023 - $294137

Please note: This range is based on our market pay structures. However, individual salaries are determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to: business considerations, local market conditions, and internal equity, as well as candidate qualifications, such as skills, education, and experience.

Employee Benefits: At BAE Systems, we support our employees in all aspects of their life, including their health and financial well-being. Regular employees scheduled to work 20+ hours per week are offered: health, dental, and vision insurance; health savings accounts; a 401(k) savings plan; disability coverage; and life and accident insurance. We also have an employee assistance program, a legal plan, and other perks including discounts on things like home, auto, and pet insurance. Our leave programs include paid time off, paid holidays, as well as other types of leave, including paid parental, military, bereavement, and any applicable federal and state sick leave. Employees may participate in the company recognition program to receive monetary or non-monetary recognition awards. Other incentives may be available based on position level and/or job specifics.


About BAE Systems Intelligence & Security
BAE Systems, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, an international defense, aerospace and security company which delivers a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. Improving the future and protecting lives is an ambitious mission, but it’s what we do at BAE Systems. Working here means using your passion and ingenuity where it counts - defending national security with breakthrough technology, superior products, and intelligence solutions. As you develop the latest technology and defend national security, you will continually hone your skills on a team-making a big impact on a global scale. At BAE Systems, you’ll find a rewarding career that truly makes a difference.

Intelligence & Security (I&S), based in McLean, Virginia, designs and delivers advanced defense, intelligence, and security solutions that support the important missions of our customers. Our pride and dedication shows in everything we do-from intelligence analysis, cyber operations and IT expertise to systems development, systems integration, and operations and maintenance services. Knowing that our work enables the U.S. military and government to recognize, manage and defeat threats inspires us to push ourselves and our technologies to new levels.

This position will be posted for at least 5 calendar days. The posting will remain active until the position is filled, or a qualified pool of candidates is identified.

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TS/SCI