Ms. Kristen J. Baldwin was appointed the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering in January 2016 while continuing as Principal Deputy, SE. She is the principal systems engineering advisor to the Secretary of Defense and is responsible for establishing and executing engineering policy and oversight across the Department. She also serves as the acting Defense Standardization Executive and oversees the DoD strategy for Trusted Systems Design.

A member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), Ms. Baldwin leads digital engineering, system security engineering, mission engineering, and system-of-systems engineering initiatives. She oversees the DoD Systems Engineering Research Center, a University-Affiliated Research Center. Ms. Baldwin is a recipient of the Meritorious Presidential Rank award in recognition of exemplary service, and the National Defense Industrial Association Lt Gen Thomas R. Ferguson, Jr., Systems Engineering Excellence Award. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Systems Management from the Florida Institute of Technology.