Program Protection Plan (PPP) Advisor / Coordinator

Job Title: Program Protection Plan (PPP) Advisor / Coordinator Location(s): Fort Meade, MD Hours: Regular Full-Time Salary Range: $94k/yr - $130k/yr Clearance Requirements: This position requires a current and active TS/SCI at the time of application. Position Overview: The Program Protection Plan (PPP) Advisor/Coordinator serves as the lead subject matter expert (SME) and technical advisor responsible for safeguarding advanced military technologies, systems, and information throughout the acquisition lifecycle. Emphasizing the principles of systems security engineering (SSE) as established in the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) course ACQ 160 / ACQ 1600 (Program Protection Planning Awareness), the advisor leads efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to program protection challenges. The advisor collaborates across the Integrated Product Team (IPT) to ensure that Critical Program Information (CPI) and Mission Critical Functions (MCF) are systematically identified, assessed, and protected against exploitation, reverse engineering, and unauthorized replication. This role is vital for ensuring compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) directives while engineering inherently secure and resilient defense systems. What you will be doing: Lead the development, coordination, implementation, and recurring review of the comprehensive Program Protection Plan (PPP) and its associated annexes throughout the system development lifecycle (SDLC). Ensure program protection tenets are seamlessly integrated into the program’s Systems Engineering Plan (SEP), Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP), and cybersecurity strategies. Draft, coordinate, and maintain time-phased, event-driven Security Classification Guides (SCGs), Operations Security (OPSEC) plans, and program security directives. Coordinate DD Form 254 (DoD Contract Security Classification Specification) requirements and integrate program protection mandates into contractual commitments with prime defense contractors. Technology & Critical Program Information (CPI) Protection Lead vulnerability and criticality analyses to identify organic and inherited Critical Program Information (CPI) and identify vulnerable nodes in weapon systems architectures. Utilize the Acquisition Security Database (ASDB) to maintain, track, and report on the program’s CPI inventory to enable horizontal protection across acquisition pathways. Interface with specialized systems security engineering teams to evaluate and recommend anti-tamper (AT) technologies, cryptographic controls, and secure boot architectures to protect CPI from exploitation. Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) & Mission Assurance Conduct complex threat-informed assessments and supply chain mapping to evaluate vulnerabilities in hardware, software, and firmware. Analyze supply chain threat intelligence to identify risks posed by foreign intelligence and malicious actors, articulating the potential mission impact to leadership. Collaborate with cybersecurity teams to align program protection measures with the Risk Management Framework (RMF) and DoD cybersecurity policies (e.g., DoDI 5200.44). Working Groups & Stakeholder Integration Direct Program Protection Working Groups (PPWGs) and System Security Engineering (SSE) teams to foster collaborative, cross-functional risk management. Serve as the primary liaison between the government program office, defense contractor security representatives, military intelligence, and technology security directorates. Support milestone decision reviews (e.g., Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review) to ensure program protection controls are validated and implemented in system designs. Training, Evaluation, & Policy Compliance Conduct internal self-inspections, facilitate government security audits, and evaluate prime contractor Program Protection Implementation Plans (PPIPs) for policy compliance. Develop and present comprehensive briefings to program leadership, translating complex t…

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