Dr. Nazanin “Naz” Azizian

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Dr. Naz Azizian serves as the Director for Space and National Intelligence in the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment. She leads the oversight, assessment, and synchronization of critical space and national intelligence capabilities to include Major Defense Acquisition Programs and Intelligence Community (IC) Major Systems Acquisition in the Space Control, Space Command and Control, Remote Sensing, and Space Launch portfolios. Her team assesses program performance, effectiveness, readiness, and costs to shape strategic investment decisions and ensure alignment with the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy.

Previously, Dr. Azizian served in various roles at the Office of the Secretary of War, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation from 2022 to 2026 where she provided direct decision-support to the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War on all aspects of the defense program, including the scale, structure, and capabilities of the future Joint Force. She was instrumental in developing and optimizing the Department’s annual President’s Budget submissions, including the $962B FY26 and the unprecedented $1.5T FY27 President’s Budgets to aggressively implement the National Defense Strategy. Dr. Azizian assessed and prioritized options to advance key administration priorities including expanded capacity for munitions, unmanned aerial systems, nuclear capabilities, next-generation Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) solutions, and the Defense Industrial Base. She represented the Department of War’s position in senior level government meetings with Congress, the White House, and interagency partners.

From 2013-2022, Dr. Azizian served in various roles at the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security where she exercised planning, policy, direction, and oversight over DoW’s intelligence investments including the Navy, NSA, and USSCYBERCOM Military Intelligence Program (MIP) capabilities. She also served as the Deputy Director for Strategic Engagement where she led an enormous multi-billion-dollar integration of MIP information architectures from Combat Support Agencies, Distributed Common Ground/Surface Systems, and U.S. Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation Systems with the IC’s Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise and DoD’s Joint Information Environment.

From 2011-2013 Dr. Azizian served as the Deputy Assistant Program Manager for Systems Engineering for the Department of the Navy’s Littoral Surveillance Reconnaissance System program, delivering ground-breaking airborne ISR capabilities for the Navy. From 2006 through 2011, Dr. Azizian served in various systems engineering and test engineering roles at Marine Corps Systems Command and Lockheed Martin, supporting the USMC Global Combat Support System and Virginia Class submarines.

Dr. Azizian currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University where she instructs a course on the U.S. Grand Strategy and application of national tools of power to advance U.S. strategic interests. She was a National Security Fellow at Harvard University; and holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, an M.A. in Electrical Engineering, and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The George Washington University.