Dr. Steven Van Dyk, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Chief Engineer at Strategic Systems Programs (SSP).  He assumed his current role as the eighth Chief Engineer at SSP in January 2022.

In his role as Chief Engineer, SSP Dr. Van Dyk is senior technical authority responsible to the Director, SSP for the technical processes and rigor to execute the Command’s mission. His oversight includes defining and enforcing the engineering disciplines; setting quality standards; and auditing compliance to ensure the performance, safety and quality of the Navy’s strategic nuclear deterrent capability – including weapon system technical documentation, fleet maintenance, and calibration programs for the Trident II (D5) Strategic Weapon System (SWS). He is further responsible for the SSP technical evaluation program and oversite of civilian Technical Qualifications and engineering workforce competencies. He is also the Deputy Program Officer for the Polaris Sales Agreement (PSA) with the United Kingdom.

Dr. Van Dyk began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy.  He was commissioned in 1980 through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Program following graduation from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He served on various Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines as a Strategic Weapons Officer where he gained a subspecialty rating in Strategic Weapons and Electrical Engineering and as the Engineer on a Diesel Submarine. His shore duty assignments included engineer in charge of the production and repair of the Mk48 submarine launched torpedo program at Naval Sea Systems Command and Executive Officer of SSP’s Program Management Office Fire Control System responsible for the technical management of the guidance and fire control subsystems production and repair. Following his retirement from the U.S. Navy in 1996 as a LCDR, he accepted a position with Kaman Sciences Corporation and worked in radiation effects.

Dr. Van Dyk returned to SSP as a government civilian in 1998 and held positions in the Reentry System Branch (1998-2000); Guidance System Branch (2000-2004); and Missile System Branch (2004-2014). He then served as the Assistant to the Chief Engineer for Missile Engineering Systems (2014-2017) and was responsible for all matters pertaining to missile system design, development, flight test data acquisition, production and Fleet support as well as integration of flight hardware system components into the TRIDENT II missile. He was appointed the Chief Deterrence Technology Officer in 2017, where - in addition to being the principal point of contact for SSP with the Commander, U.S. Strategic Command - he was responsible for establishing and directing research and exploratory development programs in support of future Strategic Weapon Systems; providing executive leadership for all Navy matters related to Arms Control Treaty implementation and compliance; and directing SSP’s efforts as a participating or supporting Program Office for other Navy programs.

Dr. Van Dyk holds advance degrees including a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies: Management of Technology from Vanderbilt University. He received the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award in 2012, is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community, and holds Advanced Program Management Functional Area Certification. He has been a member of the Senior Executive Service since October 2018 and has over 25 years of civilian service.

Last Updated: 22 April 2024