TECHNICAL ADVISOR - SPACE SECURITY & DEFENSE PROGRAM (SSDP)

Department of the Air Force HeadquartersColorado Springs, Coloradousajobspublished 10/30/2026
Must-have:SecuritySeniorPrincipal

About the company

Click on "Learn more about this agency" button below to view Eligibilities being considered and other IMPORTANT information. The United States Space Force (USSF) is a highly specialized, independent branch of the Armed Forces organized under the Department of the Air Force (DAF). Its primary mandate is to organize, train, and equip space forces to secure and maintain freedom of operations within, from, and to the space domain.

Your tasks

The Technical Advisor to the Space Security and Defense Program (SSDP) serves as the principal advisor and chief subject matter expert to the SSDP Director, driving space protection strategy, policy, and funding refinement for both USSF, OSW and ODNI. In this critical leadership capacity, the advisor coordinates national-scope efforts to develop vulnerability assessments, mitigation strategies, and architectural evaluations while ensuring all program activities align with overarching mission objectives. To achieve this, the advisor facilitates high-level collaborative discussions across operational, intelligence, and technical fields, interfacing directly with senior National Security Space (NSS) leaders to advocate for and enforce rigorous space protection standards. Finally, the advisor partners closely with the Intelligence Community (IC) to direct collection priorities, oversees robust project management and execution for the Annual Work Plan, and applies disciplined engineering practices to guarantee that all threat projections and technical solutions are analytically sound.

Requirements

Eligibility will be based upon a clear showing the applicant has training, education and experience of the scope and quality sufficient to effectively carry-out the duties of the position. Candidates must exemplify the corporate perspective, leadership vision, broad experience and character needed in the SES Civilian Executive corps not only to satisfy the immediate vacancy, but future vacancies which will occur in a variety of organizations, functions and locations. TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs): Applicants must reflect superior technical qualifications demonstrated through leadership and management in the following: TQ1. Demonstrated experience with IC and DOW organizations and their processes to initiate/fund new capabilities, perform acquisitions, and operate space capabilities in the context of the joint IC/DOW military operations. This includes understanding of space missions that need to be accomplished across the IC and DOW. TQ2. Demonstrated experience applying deep technical knowledge of technologies and space systems (US & Adversary) to assess methods to disrupt, defeat, or protect them. This includes technical depth regarding a spectrum of space superiority capabilities along with operational enablers such as Domain Awareness and C2. TQ3. Demonstrated experience leading teams to develop new concepts, analyze options with deep rigor, defend recommendations, and communicate to Senior Levels. A separate narrative statement is required..

A degree qualifying for the 0801 General Engineer job series is required. To be acceptable, the curriculum must:

  • if an engineering degree, be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; or
  • include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics:
  • (a) statics, dynamics;
  • (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships);
  • (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics;
  • (d) thermodynamics;
  • (e) electrical fields and circuits;
  • (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties);
  • (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics; or a combination of education and experience as required by the U.S. A master's degree or higher in engineering or a related scientific discipline is highly desired. Certification Required: ETM Practioner