This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.
Who we are:
Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in Reston, VA. Our range of clients include innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting edge tech stack, and cloud native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.
About Role:
Raft is hiring a Hawaii-based Senior Technical Executive to serve as a senior mission partner and technical lead for one of our most innovative Department of Defense initiatives. This individual will act as the technical face of Raft on the island—engaging directly with senior DoD stakeholders, aligning Raft's platform and product strategy with operator needs, and supporting the acceleration of innovative capabilities into real-world use.
This is not a hands-on-keyboard engineering position, but it requires a strong technical foundation and the ability to communicate technical value clearly. You'll work closely with Raft's IRAD team to shape and position our solutions, ensure technical alignment with mission requirements, and guide field adoption. You'll be expected to identify new growth opportunities, lead customer-facing engagements, and represent Raft at the highest levels of leadership.
What we are looking for:
- Serve as the senior technical leader for Raft's presence in Hawaii
- Build trusted relationships with senior DoD and Joint Command stakeholders
- Represent Raft's platform vision, capabilities, and roadmaps to both mission and technical audiences
- Translate mission requirements into actionable product or IRAD guidance
- Work closely with internal engineering and product teams to deliver value in iterative, agile cycles
- Support activities related to fast fielding, accreditation, and platform compliance
- Identify and pursue opportunities to expand our footprint and mission impact
- Manage client expectations and serve as a key advisor to ensure program success
What You Bring:
- 10+ years of experience in senior technical or leadership roles within the Department of Defense or equivalent environment
- Prior military service or civilian work at a senior level within DoD, ideally in the Indo-Pacific theater
- Strong knowledge of AI/ML, data platform architecture, DevSecOps pipelines, and software modernization
- Familiarity with cybersecurity compliance frameworks including RMF, ATO, cATO, and CTF environments
- Understanding of DoD acquisition, technology funding, and fielding processes
- Ability to lead technical teams and influence diverse stakeholders
- Experience briefing senior leadership and working across multi-disciplinary teams
- Strong communication skills and ability to translate between technical and mission languages
- Recent military experience to leverage domain expertise
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working with INDOPACOM or other Pacific-based commands
- Prior experience supporting command-and-control environments
- Familiarity with edge and disconnected operations, including tactical software deployments
Clearance Requirements:
- Active Top Secret clearance with ability to obtain and maintain TS SCI
Work Location:
- Onsite in Honolulu, HI
- Up to 10% travel both domestic and international
Salary Range:
- $180,000 - $300,000 The determination of compensation is predicated upon a candidate's comprehensive experience, demonstrated skill, and proven abilities
What we will offer you:
- Highly competitive salary
- Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
- 401(k) and company match
- Unlimited PTO + 11 paid holidays
- Education & training benefits
- Generous Referral Bonuses
- And More!
Our Vision Statement:
We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission.
Our Customer Obsession:
We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.
How do we get there?
Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm.
Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.
We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
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What We Do
Raft is a digital consulting firm with niche expertise in the rapid delivery of modern, user-first, scalable, and data-intensive digital solutions. We accelerate the missions of our federal partners through human-centered design (HCD) and agile development practices, bringing deep technical expertise in DevSecOps, Kubernetes management, cloud-native microservice architectures, and secure, open source delivery. We put our people and our culture first. We work with some of the smartest, hardest working experts in their field. We owe it to them to make sure our team is free of meaningless restrictions and internal politics so they can focus on what they love, finding innovative solutions. We build off the Open-Source and resist vendor lock in. That way you’re not paying us to reinvent the wheel, our solutions play nice with others and are always adaptable. We know digital innovation doesn’t always operate during bank hours, so neither do we. (It's also why we don’t dress like bankers.) We aren’t afraid to go the extra mile or put in the extra time to find a solution. We get it right the first time; we won’t waste our time (and your money) trying to fix something that’s fundamentally broken. It’s kind of like making an exceptional cup of coffee, if the beans are roasted wrong, it doesn’t matter how much pumpkin spice you dump in your cup, it’s still not going to taste great. And above all else we’re up for a challenge; it’s in our DNA. Ask us about something that’s never been done, or better yet something that can’t be done, and we’ll find a way to do it. It’s just who we are. If you need a partner that’s looking toward the future and not the past, don’t go traditional, go Raft.
Why Work With Us
Raft partners with public agencies to solve hard complex problems that impact the lives of millions of Americans. We work hard to make it easy for humans to connect with data.
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