The U.S. Department of Defense Systems Engineering Competency Model

Abstract

AbstractThe US Department of Defense has created a comprehensive systems engineering career competency model for use in defense acquisition. The model was developed and verified by a collaborating team with members from the US Office of Personnel Management, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Missile Defense Agency to develop and verify the competencies used by defense systems engineers. Verification of the competency model was critical to allow it to be used as a basis for “high stakes” human resource functions for all of the US Department of Defense. The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, sponsored the development of the model. This paper presents an outline of the model and an analysis of the contents for critical competencies by experience level and how the model relates to processes in the INCOSE Handbook, Version 4.