Contingent Chief AI Architect

RESOURCE METRIX

14h•$140,000 - $165,000

About The Position

The War Department’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) oversees Advana, a secure, scalable, and multi-domain platform for data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. Since its inception in the late 2010s, Advana has evolved from supporting foundational business and financial operations to becoming a central resource for a broad spectrum of departmental functions, including acquisition, decision support, energy, health, readiness, information technology, intelligence, and logistics. Advana is undergoing a significant modernization effort aimed at dramatically expanding its reach, enhancing automation, and adopting cutting-edge software development and security practices. The mission of the CDAO’s Advana program is to empower strategic and operational decision-making across the War Department by making data, analytics, and AI capabilities broadly accessible, intuitive, and actionable. The Chief Architect leads the architecture, design, and integration efforts for the Advana System, ensuring alignment with program baselines and engagement with advanced technology vendors. This role is accountable for the end-to-end cloud and platform architecture experience.

Requirements

Employee of the prime contractor.
Active TS security clearance with SCI eligibility.
Bachelor’s degree (preferred) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
Minimum five years of experience in Cloud Architecture, Systems Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Requirements Gathering, Business Process Requirement Engineering, and agile development practices.
Experience designing, building, and implementing enterprise-class system architectures for projects of similar size, scope, and complexity.
Experience in Department of War Architecture Framework (DoWAF).
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional, or equivalent.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
Proficiency in relevant programming languages (e.g., Go, Python, Java, Scala, C++).
Experience architecting and engineering federated multi-cloud solutions.
Experience leading architectural teams, developing strategic IT goals and roadmaps.
Experience with data analytics, AI/ML model development, RPA development, secure application development, software lifecycle management, and DoW-compliant cloud infrastructure.
Five years’ experience in cybersecurity policies or IT related to DoW networks, classified networks, or communications systems supporting intelligence operations.
Experience engaging multiple stakeholders from industry.
Experience with cloud-neutral, cloud-native, and open-source solutions.
Additional professional certifications (e.g., PCSA, AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Architect, CompTIA, CCNA, Network+, Security+).

Responsibilities

Lead architect, positioning, and designing of systems and subsystems, including integration coordination.
Ensure technologies incorporated or developed do not conflict with the program baseline.
Engage advanced technology vendors, industry, DoW organizations, and the open-source community.
Accountable for the end-to-end cloud and platform architecture experience.
Design, build, and implement enterprise-class system architectures matching business needs (reliability, performance, scalability, security, usability).
Develop solutions across diverse, heterogeneous IT cloud environments, aligning standards, frameworks, and security with business and technology strategy.
Present solutions, designs, and architectural artifacts to senior Government officials and review boards.
Lead Zero Trust Architecture implementation and cloud modernization efforts.