Operations Lead

Join a high-performing Weapon & Tactics (W&T) team supporting critical national security space operations. As an Operations Lead, you will apply broad operational expertise to enhance mission protection capabilities across operations, battlespace awareness, collection management, system integration, planning, training, and exercises. In this role, you'll directly contribute to safeguarding space assets, developing advanced operational concepts, and enabling informed decision-making in a rapidly evolving threat environment.

Leveraging deep knowledge of mission systems and Indications & Warning (I&W) tools, you will help develop and refine Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), support executable Courses of Action (COAs), and drive continuous improvements in operational effectiveness. You will maintain certification and proficiency in a Battlespace Awareness (BSA) crew position while supporting mission integration, training initiatives, and operational readiness efforts.

Successful candidates will play a key role in identifying emerging threats, analyzing adversary patterns and behaviors, mitigating intelligence gaps, and ensuring mission assurance through real-time monitoring and assessment of space and terrestrial activities.

Key Responsibilities

Maintain certification and operational proficiency in a 24/7 BSA crew position, utilizing mission-critical tools such as Systems Tool Kit (STK) and other I&W systems.
• Develop and refine TTPs, COAs, and operational processes, including enhancements to checklist and alert-entry criteria.
• Support integration of next-generation I&W capabilities and software tools while serving as a mission subject matter expert for operational thresholds and alerting requirements.
• Monitor and report on mission capabilities, system performance, degradations, latencies, and operational impacts.
• Detect, assess, and report potential threat activity while maintaining accurate terrestrial and space catalog databases.
• Produce operational reports, intelligence products, and leadership briefings for ongoing and emerging space events.
• Analyze satellite positional and state-vector data to identify patterns of life, assess vulnerabilities, and support mission protection efforts.
• Prioritize and execute collection tasking across available mission assets to maximize operational effectiveness.
• Support the planning and execution of real-world operations, exercises, and contingency response activities.
• Identify operational, technical, and intelligence gaps that could affect mission success and develop mitigation strategies.
• Support 24/7 operations during mission events and periods of elevated operational tempo.
• Work full-time on-site at a government facility in Springfield, Virginia.

This position is contingent upon contract award.

Required Qualifications

• 10 years of experience in space defense operations, Mission Ground Stations (MGS), the Intelligence Community (IC), or space operations involving flight safety and/or I&W systems.
• Experience in Leading a team of several teammembers
• Hands-on experience with mission systems and tools such as STK, ASW, DPS, DSS, MPS, or comparable operational platforms.
• Active TS/SCI clearance with adjudicated Polygraph.
• US Citizenship

Preferred Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience applying orbital mechanics, conjunction assessment, or satellite operations expertise.
• 2+ years supporting the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) or partner Intelligence Community organizations.
• 2+ years of experience with STK, DSS, SPADOC, ATLAS, ASW, or similar space operations systems.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering or a related technical field with 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Working knowledge of orbital mechanics, flight safety tools, and mission applications.
• Understanding of foreign and domestic space and ground-based threat capabilities.
• Experience tasking space surveillance assets and managing collection operations.
• Experience supporting exercises, operational planning, and system integration initiatives.
• Proven ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and brief senior military and civilian leadership.

Work location:

• Fort Belvoir

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world's leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can't be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we're keeping people around the world safe and secure.