About this role
Job Title: Program Manager, Autonomy Digital Platforms JOA: CDAO-2026-000112 Pay Scale: $139,395-$197,200 Open Date: 11 August 2026 Close Date: 1 September 2026 About the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office The Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) mission is to accelerate the adoption of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) across the Department of War (DoW). The CDAO works across the Military Departments and Services, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands (CCMDs), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and other DoW Components to design, develop, field, and scale technologies, capabilities, strategies, policies, and other guidance related to data, analytics, and AI in support of DoW's warfighting and business functions, including responding to crises and emerging challenges with state of the art digital solutions. The CDAO has three broad goals of enabling, speeding, and scaling adoption of AI in the DoW. Rapid and scalable adoption of AI is a critical capability for DoW support in national security, and the CDAO executes that strategy. The CDAO’s role in facilitating the rapid adoption of frontier AI and autonomy will enable the DoW’s other objectives by informing future investments into policies, partnership, and infrastructure, enabling the adoption of AI at scale throughout the department. Adversaries collectively produce millions of unmanned systems (UxS) each year across all domains. While global military unmanned systems production has skyrocketed over the last three years, the United States has been slow to field these capabilities at scale. The DoW is moving at speed to bolster the U.S. drone manufacturing base, arm combat units with low-cost unmanned systems, and training the Joint Force to fight and win with these capabilities. As Program Manager for Autonomy Digital Platforms within CDAO’s Autonomy Division, you will be responsible for establishing and leading the critical software capabilities, digital infrastructure, and cloud-to-edge environments that power rapid autonomy development. By architecting a robust and scalable digital backbone, this position will ensure that DoW programs can develop, integrate, test, and deploy highly effective, safe, and reliable autonomous systems in days or weeks, rather than years. This position is covered by the Department of War (DoW) Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo). The position is located in Washington, DC. The pay plan and broadband level for this role is NH-0340-04, which is equivalent to the GS-14/15 grade level. This role will close for submissions at 11:59pm on September 1st, 2026. Scale the DoW Autonomy Platforms & Software Pipelines: Lead the design and implementation of automated pipelines and architectures that support rapid software iterations, continuous algorithm improvement, and secure software deployment to platforms in the field. Architect Cloud-to-Edge Infrastructure: Direct the development of a secure, distributed digital architecture that scales seamlessly from enterprise cloud environments down to tactical computing platforms operating at the physical edge. Lead Modeling, Simulation, & Virtual Testing: Oversee the creation of virtual testbeds, simulation environments, and digital twins to thoroughly integrate, test, evaluate, verify, and validate complex autonomous behaviors and software performance prior to operational testing and physical fielding. Lead UxS Standards & Interoperability: Lead the development and establishment of technical standards and open architectures to ensure different autonomous platforms integrate seamlessly with each other and relevant command-and-control systems. Execute Programmatic & Portfolio Leadership: Budget, plan, and execute large-scale, highly technical software acquisition and engineering efforts, coordinating a diverse coalition of traditional defense contractors, non-traditional commercial technology firms, and operational end-users.