Development of a System Engineering Competency Career Model: verification of the model using OPM method.

Abstract

The DOD acquisition workforce is growing rapidly, and the need to align tasks to job positions and competencies with individuals to ensure positions are filled with the ‘best fitting’ candidate is extremely important (Whitcomb, White, Khan 2014). DASN RDT&E has funded NPS on a multi-year project to assist in the development of the Systems Engineering Career Competency Model (SECCM). This model identifies a collection of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that define the basis for developing effective systems engineers. Progress on the SECCM has positioned the Department of Defense (DOD) as a leader in the human resources management of this systems engineering competency. The SECCM can also assist graduate academic programs to specify student outcomes and learning objectives within systems engineering (SE) programs that will ensure the students have the entry-level KSAs required to perform successfully in their job. The implications of the research can also be used to develop structured curriculum content, assessment, and continuous process improvement techniques related to the development of SE learning, and to develop more valid and reliable instruments for assessing what systems engineers need to learn, need to know, and need to do (Khan, 2013). Proficiency levels and competency sources are identified within the model. Each KSA was defined in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy in both the cognitive and affective domains. The model is implemented in an Excel spreadsheet. This approach provides an interactive model that allows for tailoring the KSAs required for DOD systems engineers to be considered competent at various career experience levels (White, 2014).