Job Descriptions:
The Microelectronics Senior Technology Fellow is a distinguished technical leader, strategist, and corporate capability architect responsible for establishing, growing, and externally branding the organization's microelectronics expertise across the defense and national security ecosystem.
This role goes beyond technical advisory-serving as the face and force multiplier for a new or expanding microelectronics division within Kratos. The Fellow shapes strategy, influences investment, guides mission-critical programs, and elevates the organization's credibility and visibility as a trusted microelectronics partner to government, industry, and academia.
Key Responsibilities
Industry Influence & External Branding
National-Level Representation: Represent the organization in high-stakes forums (OUSD, DARPA, CHIPS Act committees) to influence the trajectory of national microelectronics policy.
Strategic Alliances: Cultivate a robust ecosystem of foundries, academic centers of excellence, and prime contractors to fortify the domestic microelectronics supply chain.
Thought Leadership: Drive the national narrative on "Trust and Assurance" through briefings, white papers, and high-visibility industry panels.
Microelectronics Growth & Corporate Capability Development
Establish and scale a differentiated microelectronics capability aligned with defense and national security priorities
Define and articulate the organization's microelectronics value proposition, technical focus areas, and competitive positioning
Guide internal capability development including talent, infrastructure, tools, and partnerships
Support capture, proposal strategy, and customer engagement by providing technical credibility and strategic insight
Technical Authority & National Security Leadership
Strategic Technical Oversight: Act as the ultimate authority on microelectronics architectures (rad-hard, 3DHI, and trusted silicon) required to maintain U.S. technological overmatch.
Risk Decoupling: Provide high-level technical assessments that decouple technological risk from program execution, ensuring "First-Time-Right" delivery for the warfighter.
Sovereign Capability Champion: Advise the C-suite and government executive leadership on the transition of emerging architectures into fielded defense platforms.
Capability Orchestration & Strategic Growth
Differentiated Value Proposition: Architect a microelectronics roadmap that integrates AI, advanced packaging, and "Secure-by-Design" principles to outpace global adversary capabilities.
Strategic Capture & Influence: Serve as the technical lead for Tier-1 captures, leveraging personal credibility to secure marquee defense programs and shape government R&D priorities.
Industrial Base Resilience: Guide internal investments to ensure the organization remains the "partner of choice" for the DoD's most sensitive microelectronics initiatives, at all classification levels.
Executive Mentorship & Organizational Culture
Elite Talent Development: Mentor a cohort of Principal Engineers and future Fellows to sustain the organization's long-term technical superiority.
Collaborative Innovation: Bridge the gap between R&D and program execution, fostering a high-velocity culture that treats technical excellence as a mission-essential requirement.
Mission Velocity & Economic Advantage
Mission-Critical Acceleration: Spearhead modernization of test and qualification to collapse the "Lab-to-Field" timeline, ensuring rapid deployment of dual-use and commercial-derivative technologies.
Cost as a Strategic Weapon: Institutionalize cutting edge qualification frameworks to radically drive down the unit cost of assurance, enabling the delivery of high-volume, high-complexity systems at a fraction of traditional DIB costs.
Automated Assurance at Scale: Analyze, implement and institutionalize an AI-enabled predictive testing process to guarantee extremely high mission reliability while minimizing manual-intensive bottlenecks that delay mission-critical transitions.
Required Experience:
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, materials science, physics, or a related technical field
20+ years of progressive experience in microelectronics R&D, manufacturing, advanced engineering, or system integration
Recognized technical authority with demonstrated impact on programs, strategy, and organizational growth
Proven experience building or scaling technical capabilities within a corporate, government, or lab environment
Strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts to executives, customers, and non-technical audiences
Experience operating in classified, regulated, or high-assurance environments
Preferred Experience
Experience supporting DoD programs, national laboratories, or defense primes
Background in trusted/assured microelectronics, supply chain security, ITAR/EAR environments
Experience influencing corporate strategy, capture efforts, or market positioning
Participation in national-level technical advisory boards, working groups, or consortia
Active or previously held security clearance
Why This Role Matters
This role establishes microelectronics as a core growth pillar and branded capability-driving mission impact, competitive advantage, and long-term relevance in the defense and national security marketplace.
Keyword: microelectronics R&D, manufacturing, advanced engineering
Kratos Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.
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From: Kratos Defense
