A career change can be daunting to some, but for Chiedozie “Dozie” Anazia, a program analyst and systems security engineering lead at Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), it was a no-brainer.
Anazia always had a curiosity about science and technology; however, he did not pursue it right away. Instead, he attended Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, to study broadcast communication and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2009.
After landing a job with a local television station, Anazia put his practice to application for the next couple of years. When his company started to downsize, Anazia decided to look for new working opportunities and transitioned to the sales department of an electric vehicle/renovation company in 2014.
“My penchant for working was there,” he said. “I was able to move to a more hands-on department within that company, so I started installing solar panels. Soon enough, I was on the roof of customers’ houses installing solar panels to the same customers I had sold the product and I felt a pull toward the technical work. After a while, I still felt this itch to go back to school and study something I actually wanted to do. So, I decided to run with that feeling instead of waiting any longer.”
He applied and was enrolled as a graduate student at American University in Washington D.C., studying applied computer science. As he completed his coursework, Anazia looked for internships and fellowships that could provide him exposure to potential careers in the private and federal sector. After graduating with his master’s degree in 2023, Anazia was accepted into the Pacific Northwest Nuclear Lab (PNNL) fellowship program.
PNNL is a Department of Energy national lab in Richland, Washington, that conducts research for national security missions, nuclear materials stewardship, non-proliferation missions, the nuclear fuel life cycle, and energy production. Throughout the fellowship, Anazia worked closely with technical professionals from the nuclear security enterprise.
“The PNNL fellowship is designed to find and expose it’s participants to jobs in their specific field of interest,” Anazia said. “It’s tailored to help you find employment – to network with a slew of individuals that could be useful resources to connect you with more opportunities. Since I was involved in the security enterprise, I had the chance to support the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).”
While supporting artificial intelligence (AI) research and cyber security at the NNSA, Anazia received a job listing for an opportunity at SSP from one of his peers in the fellowship program.
“Someone who was connected with one of the fellows that worked in my office was given a job listing and he thought I would be a good fit for it, so he sent it to me,” he said. “I didn’t know much about the organization and the deadline to apply was closing in, so I applied quickly and that led me to SSP.”
PNNL’s fellowship also provides career fairs, which welcome defense companies and government agencies to their facilities for recruitment events. Among the federal agencies that attend is SSP.
“It was a funny coincidence to see SSP at the career fair,” Anazia said. “I actually had the chance to meet the person who passed the job listing to my friend and it was a ‘full-circle’ moment. We chatted about the organization and the mission, which was really helpful.”
Anazia received and accepted an offer to work in the command’s Reentry Systems Branch, but had to wait some time to onboard. With hiring freezes occurring across the federal workforce, Anazia was unable to join his new team until August 2025, almost six months since he received his offer.
“There was a bit of a waiting period that was tough,” he said. “Luckily, the fellowship I had extended our participation in the program, which supported our opportunity to stay involved with technical work until some of us could find career opportunities.”
Today, Anazia is supporting SSP and connecting to a partner organization he’s already familiar working with.
“My specific office interacts with the NNSA – we are the liaison to the NNSA,” he said. “In this technical space, we are learning as we go. Not everything has been created yet, so understanding what kinds of guidelines are needed to operate in this domain is something we are currently researching and working through.”
Anazia explained how emerging technologies present opportunities and risks.
“The type of work we are doing is critical because there are always new emerging threats,” he said. “For example, AI is quickly evolving, so understanding the risks that this technology presents will better prepare our program to succeed and navigate through this new space.”
Anazia said he is looking forward to contributing to SSP’s strategic deterrence mission and has appreciated the warm welcome he’s received since onboarding.
SSP is responsible for sustaining the strategic weapon system (SWS) on the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) and supporting the integration of the D5LE weapon system on the new Columbia-class SSBNs. Looking to the future, SSP is actively modernizing the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad through the development of the D5LE2 SWS and pioneering regional strike capabilities of the future through development of the nuclear-armed sea launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system (CPS).