White House Military Office - Chief Data and AI Officer (CDAO)

Application Deadline: 25 March 2026

Department: Front Office

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Arlington, VA

Description

Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO) White House Military Office (WHMO)
Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) AppointmentPay Scale: $169,279-$228,000+Location: Washington, DC 
About the Role
The White House Military Office (WHMO) seeks an exceptional technology executive to serve as Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO) under the Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) authority. This is a rare opportunity to architect and lead the digital and artificial intelligence ecosystem that supports the President of the United States and the National Command Authority.
As the principal architect and strategist for the Presidential Information Technology Community (PITC), the CDAO transforms digital platforms, data, and AI capabilities into strategic national security assets. This role defines the modernization roadmap for resilient, secure, and survivable digital systems that must function without fail—across routine operations, global travel, crisis response, and contested environments.
The ideal candidate is a nationally recognized expert with deep technical mastery, strategic vision, and proven executive leadership in high-consequence, classified environments.
This position is being filled under the Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) hiring authority pursuant to 10 U.S.C. §9903, which enables the Department of Defense to recruit distinguished professionals with exceptional expertise to support critical national security missions. HQE appointments are made in the Excepted Service and are time-limited in nature. This appointment does not confer eligibility for conversion to the Competitive Service.
This position is located within the White House Military Office in Washington, D.C. Compensation will be set commensurate with the selectee’s qualifications and experience within the authorized pay band for Highly Qualified Experts.
This announcement will close for submissions on March 25th, 2026 at 11:59 PM (ET).

Key Responsibilities

Digital Strategy, Modernization & Enterprise Architecture

• Serve as the principal design authority for PITC digital ecosystems supporting presidential missions.
• Define and execute a unified digital and data strategy tailored to high-mobility, global operations.
• Modernize enterprise systems with a focus on user experience (UX), operational performance, and mission reliability.
• Architect resilient data fabrics, secure cloud environments, and mobile platforms designed for survivability under extreme physical or electronic duress.
• Lead digital and data initiatives supporting Continuity of Government (COG) and Continuity of Operations (COOP).
• Establish enterprise standards and lifecycle governance models where no commercial or federal precedents exist.

Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity Integration

• Serve as WHMO’s principal authority on AI architecture and secure AI/ML deployment.
• Design and implement mission-driven AI systems for predictive analytics, risk sensing, and cyber anomaly detection.
• Embed Zero Trust principles and quantum-resistant cryptography into digital and AI architectures.
• Evaluate and integrate advanced technologies including autonomous agents, federated learning, edge AI, and neural-symbolic systems.
• Establish responsible AI frameworks incorporating human oversight, rigorous testing, and bias mitigation.
• Lead secure integration of AI capabilities into high-security operational environments.

Executive Leadership & Interagency Governance

• Provide executive-level briefings and strategic technology counsel to WHMO leadership, EOP principals, and senior DoD officials.
• Represent WHMO in high-level technical negotiations with interagency partners and industry leaders.
• Chair Digital, Data, and AI governance councils to adjudicate complex engineering trade-offs between performance, security, and survivability.
• Cultivate a culture of digital literacy, innovation, and evidence-based decision-making across the enterprise.
• Translate complex technical constraints into actionable operational guidance for presidential missions.

Qualifications

Required Expertise

• Nationally recognized authority in AI/ML engineering, data science, digital architecture, or resilient systems-of-systems design.
• Executive-level experience in national security, defense, or intelligen