Technical Delivery Lead

OpenTeams•Washington, DC

1d•$145,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We're looking for a Technical Delivery Lead to own the end-to-end technical delivery of an AI/ML platform running in secure, regulated environments. This is a role for someone who has taken a system from a development environment into hardened production and knows how much of that job is not writing code. The work runs across three fronts. You lead the deployment itself — a containerized, API-first platform moving from open development into locked-down production, across network boundaries and through whatever gates the environment imposes. You steer the system through security accreditation and authorization, which means owning that path rather than waiting on someone else to walk it. And you provide day-to-day technical leadership for a combined engineering and security team, including partner and subcontractor personnel. This is hands-on leadership. You'll make the calls on architecture, security posture, and sequencing — and your team will judge those calls on the merits, which is a good thing. The people who thrive here have done this work themselves: the promotion between environments, the boundary crossings, the accreditation paperwork. Not managed it from a distance — done it. This position is contingent upon contract award. Travel of up to 25% may be required, primarily to Government facilities and between company locations. Unclassified work may be performed remotely, while classified responsibilities require an appropriate clearance and onsite presence in an accredited facility.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance
10+ years of software or systems engineering experience
5+ years of experience leading technical delivery teams supporting Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, or comparable Government programs
Direct experience guiding a system through RMF accreditation to an Authority to Operate
Experience owning or coordinating the RMF body of evidence and working directly with security officials and Authorizing Official staff
Hands-on experience deploying and operating containerized workloads using Kubernetes
Experience working in classified, air-gapped, disconnected, or limited-connectivity environments
Experience with classified cloud environments, such as AWS Secret or Top Secret regions
Experience with low-to-high software promotion and Government-approved cross-domain transfer processes
Working knowledge of DevSecOps practices for regulated environments, including hardened containers, artifact signing, software bill of materials generation, vulnerability management, and continuous monitoring
Experience leading multidisciplinary teams spanning platform engineering, infrastructure, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, and systems engineering
Experience managing subcontractor technical personnel as part of an integrated delivery team
Strong written and verbal communication skills with Government, technical, security, and program stakeholders
Current DoD 8140/8570 qualifying certification, such as CISSP or CASP+, or the ability to obtain an appropriate certification within 90 days of hire
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Nice To Haves

Active TS/SCI clearance
Experience delivering AI/ML platforms or data-intensive analytic systems for defense or intelligence users
Familiarity with Kubernetes platforms and platform-as-a-service offerings commonly used in classified Government environments
Experience implementing or operating under a continuous ATO model
Experience automating security evidence and continuous-monitoring pipelines
Experience with multi-intelligence data workflows, mission analytics, or decision-support systems
Experience supporting rapid prototyping programs or defense innovation initiatives
Experience integrating third-party capabilities against published technical standards or API specifications
Experience managing technical milestone acceptance and contract data requirements

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end technical delivery of the platform across unclassified development and classified production environments
Lead the promotion of platform releases into classified environments, including signed release packages, software bills of materials, cross-domain submission packages, and environment-parity validation
Establish and maintain a recurring software-promotion cadence
Lead the development and maintenance of the RMF body of evidence, including the System Security Plan, control implementations, Plan of Action and Milestones, and security test artifacts
Drive the accreditation timeline in partnership with Government security officials and the Authorizing Official
Position the program for a potential transition from a traditional ATO to a continuous ATO model
Direct platform, DevSecOps, and ML infrastructure engineers across unclassified and classified workstreams
Set technical priorities, remove delivery blockers, enforce engineering standards, and align technical execution with contract milestones
Lead cybersecurity and systems engineering personnel responsible for RMF execution, system hardening, and classified-environment integration
Ensure security engineering is integrated into the delivery lifecycle and automated pipelines
Manage subcontractor technical personnel as part of an integrated delivery team
Track and escalate Government-furnished information, access, equipment, personnel, and other dependencies that could affect delivery
Document schedule risks associated with cross-domain turnaround, environment access, account provisioning, reviews, and approvals
Serve as the accountable technical owner for milestone acceptance criteria, operational demonstrations, and technical contract deliverables
Represent technical delivery status during Government program reviews and technical exchange meetings
Communicate clearly with mission owners, security officials, technical stakeholders, and partner organizations