Job Description Summary

Organization's Summary Statement:
The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence & Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland is a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC) dedicated to advancing research, innovation, and technology transition to improve decision making for U.S. national security. ARLIS combines deep scientific expertise with operational insight to address challenges in intelligence analysis, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence / machine learning, quantum science, and human-machine teaming. Researchers, scientists, engineers, and analysts at ARLIS collaborate with government agencies, industry partners, and academic institutions to deliver actionable insights and transformative solutions through research and development. Employees at ARLIS work on projects of critical importance, contribute directly to the nation’s security, and are supported by a culture that values integrity, collaboration, and professional growth.

The Test and Evaluation (T&E) Research Professional serves ARLIS by conducting T&E of emerging, intelligent technologies, especially those with implications for national and economic security.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Ability to conduct research to assess, including verify and validate, novel technologies through the design, execution, analysis, and documentation of appropriately rigorous T&E methods and activities.
• Ability to engage stakeholders (e.g., USG personnel, technology developers, end-users) to extract respective preferences.
• Skill in the development and execution of both formative and summative evaluations at one or more technology levels (e.g., component, capability, system levels).
• Skill in working within collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams and communicating complex topics through technical deliverables and briefings for U.S. Government stakeholders.

Must be able to obtain a U.S. security clearance. If selected, you must meet the requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to a government security clearance investigation that includes criminal and credit history checks, as well as verification of U.S. citizenship, birth, education, employment, and military history.

Final offer is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to successfully obtain the necessary interim Secret security clearance, as determined by the U.S. Government, prior to commencing employment

Research Specialist Qualifications:

Entry Level:
● Bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of demonstrated experience in supporting / contributing to T&E-related efforts through volunteer, extracurricular, or work activities.

Mid Level:
● Master’s degree plus 3+ years of experience in a technical role or project management position for defense or intelligence T&E programs with experience in technical requirements discovery, performance metric articulation, T&E design, technology verification and validation, performance assessment analysis, executing on technical programs with scheduled deliverables, and communicating and interfacing with government customers; or Bachelor’s degree plus 5+ years of relevant experience in a role of equivalent responsibility.

Senior Level:
● Master’s degree plus 7+ years of experience in a technical role or project management position for defense or intelligence T&E programs with experience in technical requirements discovery, performance metric articulation, T&E design, technology verification and validation, performance assessment analysis, executing on multiple technical programs with scheduled deliverables, and communicating and interfacing with government customers; or Bachelor’s degree plus 10+ years of relevant experience in a role of equivalent responsibility.

Research Engineer Qualifications:
● PhD plus 5 years or more of relevant T&E research (design, execution, analysis) experience, depending on level, including success leading research projects and interacting with government sponsors, customers, and stakeholders.
● Demonstrated potential for excellence in the execution, administration, and/or management of research or academic programs.
● Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a matrixed organization with a collaborative and team-centric culture.
● Strong oral and written communication skills.
● Excellent analytical and deep-dive skills.

Preferences:
● Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering or a related field
● Experience designing test plans to assess (both verification and validation) emerging technologies at multiple levels (i.e., component, capability, system) including identifying appropriate measures and metrics, developing appropriate use cases/test scenarios, and developing a data collection strategy
● Experience executing T&E exercises and analyzing T&E data to draw meaningful, actionable conclusions
● Experience documenting T&E efforts including lessons learned, to provide necessary insight to project sponsors and collaborators to enable informed decision-making
● Experience documenting the current-state-of-the-art including best practices and pain points
● Experience building out over-arching formative T&E plans that would enable multiple test events to support the maturation of an emerging technology
● Experience developing and deploying measurement tools (e.g., physical sensors, software instrumentation) to gather T&E-purposed performance measures and metrics
● Experience preparing technical deliverables and briefings for government stakeholders.
● Experience contributing to research proposals and technical work plans, including scoping technical approaches, defining methods, estimating effort, and identifying risks.
● Comfort working independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, evolving environment
● Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
● Active or eligible for a security clearance

Physical Demands: Sedentary work performed in a normal office environment; exerts up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Ability to attend meetings both on and off campus. Spending long hours in front of a computer screen.

Licenses/ Certifications: N/A

Minimum Qualifications

The appointee shall hold a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant area and show potential for excellence in the administration and/or management of academic or research programs. Faculty Specialists are expected to engage in activities such as developing curriculum and/or innovative means for delivering curriculum, supervising the non-research activities of graduate or post-doctoral students, serving as grant writers or authors of other publications for an academic or research program, conducting specialized research duties or other such duties that would generate intellectual property to which the faculty member shall retain the rights. Appointments to this rank are typically one to three years and are renewable.

Additional Job Details

Department

VPR-Applied Research Lab for Intelligence & Security

Worker Sub-Type

Faculty Regular

Salary Range

$49,072 - $252,288

Background Checks

Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify anyone from employment. Before any adverse decision, the finalist will have an opportunity to provide information to the University regarding disclosable background check information. The University reserves the right to rescind the offer of employment or otherwise decline or terminate employment if the information reported by the background check is deemed incompatible with the position, regardless of when the background check is completed.

Employment Eligibility

The successful candidate must complete employment eligibility verification (on Form I-9) by presenting documents that establish identity and work authorization within the timeframe required by federal immigration law, and where applicable, to demonstrate renewed employment authorization.  Failure to complete employment eligibility verification or reverification within the timeframe set forth by law may result in suspension or termination of employment.

EEO Statement

The University of Maryland, College Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. Please read the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy.

Title IX Non-Discrimination Notice

Resources

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