Subject Matter Expert (SME) III - IT/Cyber Governance and Support

Five Stones Research Corporation (5SRC) is seeking to bring senior-level IT/Cyber GRC expertise to our established and growing Huntsville-headquartered team. Serves as a senior technical authority and strategic advisor across major DoD programs, providing executive-level guidance to leadership and senior decision-makers. Leads oversight of complex RMF and Zero Trust efforts, assesses enterprise risk, and architects governance frameworks aligned with DoD mandates. Resolves governance, survivability, and interoperability challenges across weapon systems and RDT&E environments.

 Essential Functions

• Strategic Advisory & Governance Framework Oversight: Formulate, evaluate, and institutionalize overarching IT and cyber governance policies, instructions, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for weapon systems and RDT&E programs.


• Artifact Correlation & Independent Risk Assessment: Independently assess, correlate, and synthesize RMF authorization packages, Zero Trust maturity assessments, and engineering change evaluations submitted by prime developers and program stakeholders.


• Enterprise Governance Metrics Architecture: Design, establish, and oversee executive-level cybersecurity performance metrics, risk indices, and compliance indicators spanning RMF, ZT pillars, and NIST control families.


• Program Alignment & Strategic Oversight: Correlate program-wide cybersecurity posture data against acquisition milestones, configuration management baselines, and statutory directives to advise government leadership on authorization and risk-acceptance decisions.


• Agile Governance Harmonization: Embed traditional program management rigor (PMP principles) into Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) environments, ensuring continuous governance oversight, metric validation, and risk visibility across sprint cycles without impeding developmental velocity.


• Executive Briefings & Strategic Advisement: Prepare and deliver high-impact, decision-quality metric briefings, risk positions, and strategic white papers directly to General Officers, Senior Executive Service (SES) members, Program Executive Officers, and Authorizing Officials (AOs).


• Inter-Organizational Leadership: Lead high-level governance working groups, Architecture Review Boards (ARBs), and risk adjudication forums; resolve technical policy conflicts across organizations.


• Stakeholder Outreach & Liaison: Serve as the principal governance liaison to external oversight bodies, championing program risk positions and aligning multi-agency compliance goals.


• Mentorship & Team Direction: Direct multi-disciplinary advisory teams, establishing analytical quality standards for artifact evaluation and mentoring SME I and SME II personnel.

 Required Education and Experience

• Master of Science (M.S.) or Master of Arts (M.A.) in a STEM-related discipline from an accredited institution.


• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of progressive, professional IT and cybersecurity experience supporting large-scale, complex DoD programs or major weapon system acquisitions.


• Minimum of ten (10) years of dedicated experience supporting Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) environments, missile defense systems, or major defense acquisition program (MDAP) weapon system baselines.


• Minimum of two (2) years of hands-on experience executing governance, compliance oversight, or metric management within a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) or equivalent enterprise Agile environment.


• CISSP-ISSAP, CISSP-ISSEP, or CCSP, or better certification in good standing; no exceptions.


• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification – or better certification in good standing.

What We Offer:

• 401(k) Matching


• Company Events


• Dental Insurance


• Employee Recognition Programs


• Health Insurance


• Life Insurance


• Paid Time Off


• Parental Leave


• Performance Incentives


• Student Loan Repayment


• Tuition Reimbursement


• Vision Insurance

This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 business days. If a candidate has not been selected at that time, it will continue to be posted until a suitable candidate is selected or the position is closed. To be considered for this position, applicants must apply online by clicking “Apply” on the specific position on our careers site.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.