About the Role
Summit is seeking a Mission Protection Manager to support our Department of Defense partners on the Integrated Research and Development for Enterprise Solutions (IRES) contract. This position is based on-site at either Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO or Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL.
As a Mission Protection Manager, you will lead the Mission Assurance (MA), Quality Assurance (QA), and Environmental Safety & Occupational Health (ESOH) teams to ensure the success of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) operations and events, particularly within the Missile Defense Integration & Operations Center (MDIOC). In this role, you will oversee audit activities, manage proactive risk mitigation strategies, support system reliability initiatives, and ensure seamless integration of mission protection capabilities—including cybersecurity considerations. You will work directly with senior leadership and government stakeholders, driving operational readiness and developing strategies that safeguard critical missions.
This is a high-visibility leadership role requiring strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills. Candidates must demonstrate experience managing cross-functional teams, coordinating multi-domain operations, and delivering effective technical and strategic solutions in a dynamic environment.
This is a full-time, on-site role with occasional travel and requires an active DoD Secret clearance.
Requirements
Location: Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO or Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL Relocation Assistance: None available at this time
Remote/Telework: NO - Not available for this position Clearance Type: DoD Secret
Shift: Day shift
Travel Required: Up to 10% of the time Description of Duties:
The Mission Protection Manager supports the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on the Integrated Research and Development for Enterprise Solutions (IRES) contract. The candidate will:
· Lead the Mission Assurance (MA), Quality, and Environmental Safety and Occupational Safety (ESOH) teams in order to ensure the success of Missile Defense events and operations, particularly within the Missile Defense Integration & Operations Center (MDIOC).
· Develop and provide information and briefings to IRES senior management and Government customers to communicate the efforts of the MA, QA, Safety, and Risk Programs.
· Provide oversight of the MA/QA teams' engagement in events and projects and assess their performance of daily audit and verification activities.
· Provide direction and leadership to the Safety Office, aligning safety initiatives with organizational goals and objectives.
· Support the development of proactive risk analysis and mitigation strategies in support of MDA mission protection of tests and events.
· Ensure integrated and seamless Mission & Quality Assurance, Safety, and Facilities incident reporting.
· Contribute to the development of new ways to integrate multi-domain mission protection processes and capabilities, to include cybersecurity, for the MDA.
· Ensure organizational adherence to policies, processes, and procedures.
MA Team responsibilities include:
· Coordinate with numerous stakeholders and requestors in order to ensure deconfliction of all Concurrent Test, Training, & Operations (CTTO) activities with base and facility maintenance activities.
· Coordinate with all applicable MDIOC tenant organizations to establish event configuration protection periods for critical assets through physical and logical seals and access restrictions in order to communicate and prevent unauthorized access or changes.
· Coordinate planned and emergent outages, incidents, issues, and concerns with mission partners to ensure a full understanding of how they are or could be impacted and to ensure clear communication to Government of ongoing activities to restore nominal conditions.
· Plan and execute exercises to assess the MDIOC’s Mission Assurance posture as part of the MDIOC Mission Assurance Readiness Program.
· Support the MDIOC MA Officer with advocating for MDIOC equities at the Space Base Delta 1 Mission Protection Working Group and Board meetings
QA Team responsibilities include:
· Establish and maintain a comprehensive quality assurance effort for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of systems/services, instilling confidence in MDA government leadership that provisioned systems and services are read and available to support Concurrent Test, Training, and Operation (CTTO) events.
· Perform monthly performance analysis of inspections, investigations, and metrics with an emphasis on proper change request processing at government facilities under IRES contractual responsibility.
· Perform analysis and provide recommendations on prioritization of audit activities across the MDIOC (an RDT&E command and control facility for missile defense).
· Report on audit activities to IRES senior management and Government customers and provide analysis of the mission protection posture for the MDIOC as well as other areas under the responsibility of the IRES contract.
· Support government customer POM / Budgeting efforts by providing traceability between MDA Mission Essential Functions and government investment decisions, along with facility system reliability analysis.
The successful candidate will:
· Demonstrate excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, along with stakeholder management experience.
Resumes, in month and year format, must be submitted with application in order to be considered for the position. The selected candidate may be assigned as an employee for one of our teammate companies.
Qualifications - External Basic Requirements:
· Must have 14, or more, years of general (full-time) work experience
· Must have 8 years of directly related experience.
· Must have 3 years of experience in management or leadership roles.
· Must have an active DOD Secret, or higher, security clearance.