Chief Technologist

CACI International•Reston, VA

1d•$158,000 - $347,600•Onsite

About The Position

CACI is seeking an accomplished Principal State Department Mission and Technology Subject Matter Expert (SME) to serve as a senior technical and mission advisor for large-scale, mission-critical Federal programs. This T6-level role is intended for a recognized leader with deep Department of State experience who can advise executives, program teams, solution architects, and customers on how to align enterprise technology, service delivery, modernization, and operational strategies to diplomatic mission outcomes. As a trusted advisor to senior government and CACI leadership, you will translate complex State Department mission requirements into executable strategies across enterprise IT operations, infrastructure, cloud, data center, network, application, cybersecurity, observability, service management, data, artificial intelligence, and modernization portfolios. You will influence business and technical decisions of strategic importance and recommend operational strategies with direct impact on performance, resilience, cost, customer experience, and mission continuity. This role requires a technically credible, executive-facing expert who can operate across strategy, architecture, operations, governance, capture, transition, and delivery. Our ideal candidate understands Department operating realities across domestic and overseas environments, public-facing and internal mission systems, multi-vendor delivery models, security and compliance constraints, and the need to modernize without disrupting mission operations. This job description is deliberately general and may apply to Department of State opportunities beyond GMOS, including enterprise operations, consular systems, diplomatic technology, security operations, cloud and data modernization, platform engineering, service management, data and AI enablement, and bureau-level advisory support.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, systems engineering, cybersecurity, business, public administration, international affairs, or a related discipline; equivalent experience may be considered.
Extensive Department of State experience supporting Diplomatic Technology, IRM, Consular Affairs, Diplomatic Security, CIO, bureau, office, or comparable mission environments, including domestic and overseas operating contexts.
Recognized as a leader or subject matter expert in one or more technical disciplines such as enterprise IT operations, systems engineering, infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, network operations, service management, data and AI, application modernization, or Federal mission technology.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior Government and corporate leadership decisions on matters of strategic importance.
Experience recommending operational strategies and plans with direct impact on cost, performance, resilience, customer experience, staffing, risk, schedule, modernization, or mission outcomes.
Experience with complex Department or Federal environments that include multiple domains and networks, data centers, cloud providers, public-facing applications, global users, mission systems, security controls, and multi-vendor delivery models.
Demonstrated experience leading or advising multidisciplinary technical organizations across infrastructure operations, cloud services, networking, data center operations, systems administration, database administration, enterprise applications, cybersecurity operations, service desk, ITSM, EOC/NOC/SOC, engineering, and implementation.
Experience with 24x7x365 operations, incident management, problem management, change and release management, ITIL, ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM platforms, SLA/KPI governance, major incidents, disaster recovery, continuity planning, and executive communications.
Ability to analyze and resolve complex and ambiguous problems requiring technical, mission, policy, acquisition, security, stakeholder, and operational judgment.
Knowledge of emerging technologies and Federal adoption patterns, including automation and orchestration, hybrid and multi-cloud platforms, Zero Trust, DevSecOps, observability, AI/ML-enabled operations, and data modernization.
Strong executive writing, briefing, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to communicate technical risk and mission impact to senior leaders.
Experience supporting capture, proposal development, solution reviews, oral presentations, transition planning, staffing strategies, customer shaping, or technical solutioning for major Federal opportunities.
Ability to build and sustain trusted relationships with Government executives, program managers, technical leaders, contracting organizations, subcontractors, vendors, and mission stakeholders.
Active Top Secret clearance, or active Secret clearance with ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret and customer-specific access, depending on program requirements.
Ability to travel domestically or internationally as required by customer mission, transition, stakeholder-engagement, or operational-support needs.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or PhD in information systems, cybersecurity, engineering, computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, public policy, public administration, international affairs, or business administration.
PMP, PgMP, ITIL 4, CISSP, CISM, CCSP, SAFe, Agile, Lean Six Sigma, ServiceNow, AWS, Azure, OCI, cybersecurity, cloud, or infrastructure certifications.
15 to 20+ years of Department of State or large Federal experience, including service as a Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager, Chief Engineer, Enterprise Architect, Technical Director, Infrastructure/Operations Manager, or comparable senior advisor.
Direct experience with Department of State Consular Affairs, Consular Systems and Technology, Diplomatic Technology, Diplomatic Security, embassy or consulate operations, passport and visa systems, citizen services, or interagency data-sharing environments.
Experience managing or advising programs with $100M+ annual value, teams of 50 to 250+ technical professionals, or distributed operations across domestic and OCONUS locations.
Expertise with Department-relevant platforms and tools such as ServiceNow, Jira, Confluence, GitLab, Nexus, Splunk, AppDynamics, Dynatrace, Zabbix, Grafana, Oracle Enterprise Manager, Cribl, VMware Aria/vROps, Ansible Automation Platform, Puppet, MECM/SCCM, Nessus, CyberArk, Oracle Exadata, SQL Server, Oracle, OCI, Azure, AWS, Salesforce, OpenShift, Kubernetes, F5, Layer 7, Palo Alto, Cisco, or NetApp.
Experience with Department policies, FAM/FAH, ATO, FISMA, NIST RMF, FedRAMP, data governance, AI governance, M-25-21 alignment, open government data requirements, and Federal security or compliance programs.
Experience guiding AI, automation, self-service, self-healing operations, enterprise monitoring, platform engineering, cloud-native migration, analytics, or data modernization use cases.
Experience supporting FEDSIM, GWAC, IDIQ, or other major Federal procurements, including technical solutioning, staffing models, pricing inputs, workforce transition, subcontractor strategy, vendor strategy, and customer relationship development.
Existing credibility and relationships across Department of State mission and technology communities, other Federal agencies, and relevant industry partners.

Responsibilities

Serve as a principal State Department mission and technology SME for program leadership, capture teams, solution architects, and delivery organizations.
Advise senior Government and CACI leaders on Department operating models, governance, acquisition, security, mission priorities, bureau and office dynamics, stakeholder expectations, and global operational constraints.
Recommend enterprise operational strategies, technical approaches, transition plans, modernization roadmaps, and performance-improvement initiatives that directly influence contract outcomes and mission effectiveness.
Provide thought leadership across Diplomatic Technology, Consular Affairs, Diplomatic Security, CIO, bureau, office, and interagency stakeholder environments, adapting recommendations to the needs of each mission customer.
Lead or advise cross-functional teams supporting enterprise infrastructure, networking, cloud, data centers, systems administration, database platforms, enterprise applications, cybersecurity, observability, service desk, EOC/NOC/SOC operations, logistics, and IT service management.
Shape strategies for 24x7x365 global operations, incident and problem management, total ticket ownership, crisis response, continuity of operations, disaster recovery, and mission communications.
Translate complex technical and mission problems into clear executive options, trade-space analyses, risk positions, funding and staffing implications, and actionable decisions.
Advise on modernization efforts involving hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, Zero Trust, DevSecOps, CI/CD, automation, AI/ML-enabled operations, data and AI governance, platform engineering, observability, and knowledge management.
Support architecture and engineering reviews for Department-compliant solutions spanning OpenNet, CLASSNET, DMZ, identity, network security, databases, enterprise services, SaaS, IaaS/PaaS, and cloud-native environments.
Establish and refine performance metrics, SLAs, SLOs, KPIs, customer-experience measures, and dashboards that measure mission outcomes rather than only activity volumes.
Lead executive-level technical exchanges, governance boards, customer briefings, program reviews, capture sessions, oral proposal preparation, solution reviews, and transition planning activities.
Identify operational pain points, knowledge gaps, tool underutilization, security risks, and process inefficiencies; recommend practical remediation approaches based on Department mission realities.
Build trusted relationships with senior Government stakeholders, subcontractors, OEMs, industry partners, and internal technical leaders to drive alignment and reduce delivery friction.
Mentor senior managers, architects, engineers, analysts, and operators; codify lessons learned, reusable patterns, SOPs, playbooks, and knowledge artifacts to strengthen institutional capability.
Represent CACI as a senior technical authority in customer forums, solution reviews, innovation exchanges, capture gate reviews, and strategic planning sessions.