Head of Discovery

Company Overview
Metrea is a defense company dedicated to translating commercial innovation into solutions for the hardest problems in national security. With deep mission expertise, Metrea focuses on delivering effects as-a-service across a spectrum of domains including Air & Space, Electromagnetic & Cyber, and Digital & Synthetic. Metrea Management provides central services via Operations, Solutions, Strategy, Legal, and Finance teams. 

Capability Unit 

Metrea Management is our global shared service providing support for the Capability Units (CU) in areas such as Operations (People, Platform Technology, etc.) Finance & Investment, Legal, Compliance & Contracts, Solutions, and Strategy. 

Position Summary 

The Head of Discovery is responsible for creating the Discovery capability area (DISCO) with a focus on discovering high surprisal national security problems on behalf of Metrea and its stakeholders. The nascent capability area will channel its discovery efforts towards designing, curating, hosting, and leveraging an ongoing series of invite-only, high-quality, in-person symposia that explore particular problem themes in national security. 

DISCO will identify themes and frame events, select participants and invite guests, and ultimately, craft the right presentation, debate, discussion, interaction, and engagement environments to absorb as much discovery value for every participant and for Metrea itself. DISCO will also use other communication, engagement, publication, and media modalities to frame and enhance its centerpiece symposia and maximize the impact of its mandated activities. 

Candidates for this role will be rooted in humility, be both systematic and entrepreneurial, highly discerning, and with a passion for over-delivering. They will bring a depth of expertise and passion for national security, as well as significant relevant experience for H/DISCO mandate.        

The Head of Discovery will be a part of the Strategy Group, and as such will participate in a variety of other efforts. The expectation is that Discovery activities will occupy roughly 75% of the time, and the remaining 25% will be other Metrea and Strategy Group projects.

Role and Responsibilities 

• Discovery capability area development. The primary task for this position is to develop a new Discovery capability for Metrea. This will begin by developing a campaign plan and value case for the capability. This plan should include the effects that will be delivered, the capabilities required to deliver those effects, and the timelines against which those effects will be delivered. Developing a campaign plan and value case will be highly collaborative with a variety of teammates from across the enterprise.
• Discovery activities. As part of leading and building the discovery capability, this role will require active participation in discovery activities. These will range from private conversations with senior government officials to public participation in writing and debating ideas and policies. This will also include identifying, evaluating, developing, and delivering new content to help engage with ideas, problems, and people in national security.
• Engagement. Participate in a range of Metrea’s engagement activities and support Metrea’s engagement teams where subject matter expertise and/or customer knowledge or intimacy might help Metrea progress prospects favorably. Represent Metrea as required at external events and venues.
• Research. Support Metrea’s Research team in conducting deep research, analysis, modeling and simulation of problems and solutions related to the relevant portfolio.
• Frameworks. Metrea has developed a series of proprietary frameworks to help evaluate problems and make decisions. This role will begin with a deep-dive into those frameworks and then involve applying them to problems that are identified.
• Tooling. As the Discovery capability grows, the role is responsible for building the tooling required.
• Teaching & Training. All Metreans are expected to be able to teach others about their areas of expertise and be interested in receiving training on relevant topics and fields.
• Scanning for & evaluating opportunities. As a part of the Strategy team, and the broad