Full-Time
Agile Practitioner / Coach
Systems Planning and Analysis
1,001-5,000 employees
Provides data-driven national security analytics
Compensation Overview
$170k - $195k/yr
No H1B Sponsorship
Lincoln, MA, USA
In Person
US Top Secret Clearance Required
Bachelor's, Master's
 Project & Program Management (1) |
|---|
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- A bachelor's degree in a relevant field and at least one advanced Agile certification, such as SAFe SPC, RTE, or an equivalent professional-level coaching certification.
- At least 7 years of experience with Agile, Scrum, or SAFe on large multi-team programs, including at least 3 years as an Agile Coach, Release Train Engineer, or equivalent.
- Demonstrated experience guiding government or highly regulated organizations through transitions from waterfall to Agile and aligning increments with contractual deliverables.
- Strong familiarity with modern software practices, including continuous integration, continuous delivery, automated testing, and DevSecOps, and their application to mission-critical or safety-critical systems.
- Proven ability to facilitate cross-organizational ceremonies, including PI planning, system demos, retrospectives, and backlog refinement, and to coach leadership on Agile governance.
- An active Secret clearance and the ability to maintain it throughout employment.
- Lead and sustain Lean-Agile and SAFe-aligned practices across government and contractor teams.
- Train and coach leaders and teams in Agile methods.
- Help run portfolio-, solution-, and ART-level ceremonies.
- Tailor Agile practices to mission planning and integration work.
- Guide the transition from traditional waterfall-centric development to iterative, incremental, and cloud-oriented approaches.
- Integrate Agile practices with the DevSecOps platform and program controls.
- Champion metrics-driven continuous improvement.
- Ensure Agile execution aligns with contractual requirements, technical outcomes, and the Mission Planning Enterprise software factory way of working.
- A master's degree in a relevant field plus experience in mission planning or comparable weapon-system environments, including coordinating Agile teams delivering frameworks, components, and integration tools.
- Familiarity with software factory constructs, including early-look reviews, shared code and design interfaces, and enterprise collaboration on common repositories and pipelines.
- Experience using metrics and technical performance measures as Agile leading indicators, blending flow metrics with technical performance metrics to drive decision-making.
- Background integrating Agile plans with enterprise integrated master schedule management and risk registers, including explicit mapping to program risk and opportunity management processes.
- Prior work with Air Force Life Cycle Management Center or another Service Program Executive Office in establishing or maturing large-scale Agile and DevSecOps delivery environments.
SPA helps the U.S. government make high-stakes national security decisions by using modeling, simulation, and rigorous analysis. It builds data-driven analyses and forecasts outcomes for programs across the Navy, DoD, Homeland Security, and Energy, including space systems, cyber, and undersea warfare. It differentiates itself through decades of government-focused work, strategic acquisitions (MCR Federal, Intrepid, Group W), and an Office of Innovation that expands capabilities in AI, data science, and digital engineering. Its goal is to deliver accurate analyses and new capabilities quickly to guide defense investments and programs.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
$20.1M
Headquarters
Alexandria, Virginia
Founded
1972
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- SPA won a $151 million DARPA I2O SETA contract in 2026.
- Virginia approved SPA's $46.9 million expansion, targeting 1,200 jobs by 2030.
- WTOP named SPA a Top Workplace for the 13th consecutive year in June 2026.
What critics are saying
- SPA depends on Pentagon and intelligence budgets; contract concentration exposes renewal shocks.
- Integrating Intrepid and Group W strains delivery while SPA doubles Northern Virginia headcount.
- Arlington Capital's exit pressure prioritizes margins, pushing leadership churn and acquisition discipline.
What makes Systems Planning and Analysis unique
- SPA holds five-decade Navy pedigree across Strategic Systems Programs and TRIDENT analysis.
- Arlington-backed acquisitions of Intrepid, Group W, and MCR deepen modeling, space, wargaming.
- 2026 fellows and Raj Badhwar sharpen AI, cloud, DevSecOps, and digital wargaming.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 27%1 year growth
↑ 27%2 year growth
↑ 27%Systems Planning & Analysis, an independent provider of analytical insights for national security programmes, has appointed four new Fellows to advance its technical capabilities across key domains. The appointments expand SPA's expertise in software engineering, DevSecOps and cloud, applied artificial intelligence, and digital wargaming. The newly appointed Fellows are Ian Harding (Software Engineering), Steven Hernandez (DevSecOps and Cloud), Amy Soller (Applied Artificial Intelligence), and Phillip Pournelle (Digital Wargaming). These senior subject matter experts will lead the development and integration of advanced capabilities across complex, multi-domain environments for national security clients. The appointments reinforce SPA's focus on accelerating mission-ready solutions, from scalable software systems and secure cloud architectures to AI applications and analytical wargaming tools that inform critical defence and intelligence decisions.
SPA taps Raj Badhwar as CIO. On January 28, Systems Planning & Analysis (SPA) announced that Raj Badhwar has joined the company as chief information officer (CIO). Badhwar serves on SPA's executive leadership team and reports to Chief Executive Officer Rich Sawchak. As CIO, Badhwar leads SPA's enterprise information technology (IT) organization, including digital strategy, architecture, engineering, operations, data management, and business intelligence. He focuses on delivering secure, resilient, scalable technology, and cybersecurity platforms in close partnership with SPA's business and mission teams. "Raj brings deep expertise in cybersecurity, cloud, and enterprise IT that will be critical as SPA continues to grow and support increasingly complex national security missions. His leadership will help ensure our technology remains secure, modern, and aligned with both our customers' needs and our long-term strategy," Sawchak said. Badhwar's priorities include strengthening technology capabilities that support SPA's national security customers, increasing efficiency and scalability across the IT organization, and ensuring that technology investments align with mission delivery, business growth, and acquisition activities. "My work at SPA will center on ensuring technology directly supports mission outcomes for our national security customers. That means strengthening security and resilience, simplifying operations as we scale, and advancing our cloud, data, and cybersecurity capabilities in a disciplined and trusted way," noted Badhwar. Badhwar brings more than 30 years of experience leading secure technology and cybersecurity organizations across engineering, defense, financial services, and cloud platforms. Start 2026 ahead of the competition with a paid subscription to IC News. You'll get full access to its searchable archive of 15,000+ articles, plus new articles each weekday.
Systems Planning & Analysis has acquired Group W, a data science and defense analytics company that focuses on modeling, simulation and wargaming capabilities to the Defense Department.
SPA has acquired Group W, enhancing its capabilities in mission-critical modeling and simulation for defense. This acquisition unites SPA's analytical insights with Group W's expertise in data science and wargaming for the DoD. The merger aims to create a leading defense modeling and simulation company. Legal counsel for SPA was provided by Sheppard Mullin and Morrison Foerster, while Stout and Holland & Knight advised Group W. SPA is backed by Arlington Capital Partners.
On September 11, Systems Planning & Analysis (SPA) announced a significant investment to expand its global headquarters in Alexandria and enhance its operational presence in Fairfax County.