A TRIFECTA FOR CAREER SUCCESS “ BRANDON M. WILLIAMS
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Project Manager for Short and Intermedi- ate Effectors for Layered Defense, Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space
TITLE: Lead systems engineer
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 14
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in program management, engineering, and test and evaluation
EDUCATION: M.S. in program management, Naval Postgradu- ate School; B.S. in mechanical engineering, University of Alabama
AWARDS: Numerous Army awards for contributions to technical design reviews, as well as engineering demon- strations and test events. Secretary of the Army Award for Excellence in Contract- ing Product Team of the Year Award.
is the difference-maker, and capabilities represent the products of one’s career. It is impossible to know all answers to all things, but if you know the right people, you can always find the answer.”
S
Te Sentinel A-4 is a high-performance modification of the Sentinel A-3 air and missile defense radar that will provide improved capability against current and emerg- ing aerial threats, including cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems, as well as rotary-wing and fixed-wing threats. Te new radar will improve surveillance, detection and classification capabilities to protect Army maneuver formations and high-value static assets, including command-and-control nodes, tactical assembly areas and geopolitical centers.
Williams leads a team of engineers from several disciplines and is responsible for technical and programmatic interactions with the materiel development contrac- tor. It’s a job that requires someone “who is able to respect the details and see the big picture,” Williams said. “You also need to be a good communicator. As lead systems engineer, I get a lot of input from the technical subject matter experts on my team. I need to be able to blend direction from a variety of sources and make the best deci- sions that help move the program in the right direction. Fortunately, I’ve had some great mentors, and we have some excellent senior leaders in our organization to serve as an example of how that’s done.”
To further strengthen his leadership skills, Williams completed the IDEAL—Inspir- ing and Developing Excellence in Acquisition Leaders—program in October 2019. “I would recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand themselves and learn how to positively influence others around them,” he said. “As a result of what I learned, I feel I can more effectively lead a group of people with diverse backgrounds. And the sessions on crucial conversations outlined how to have hard conversations without breaking down relationships.”
Williams also sees the value of offering IDEAL to junior members of the acquisition workforce. “I think it’s a great class from the mindset of ‘I’m a leader. How do I get the best out of my team?’ But I think GS-7s through GS-9s would benefit from the perspective of ‘How can I best support my leadership and begin to learn the character- istics to one day be in a leadership role myself,’” he said. “People in the earlier stages of their careers are not aware of challenges that leadership faces. And, often, as a junior employee, you’re given a task but you don’t really know why you’re doing something or how it fits in a bigger picture. Communication and relationship-building are easier and more beneficial to both sides if everyone knows what the goal is.”
imply put, successful careers are about three things,” said Brandon Williams, lead systems engineer for the Sentinel A-4 radar program within the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space. “Relation- ships, leadership and capabilities. Relationship is an enabler, leadership
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Army AL&T Magazine
Summer 2020
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