Technical Director - Space

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: 

As a Technical Director - Space you will play a key role in ensuring DoD operators are provided modern, forward leaning, and sustainable tools to carry out their missions. In this role you will push the needle on breaking down bureaucracy barriers in the DoD to get the application and products deployed to production so they can actually be used. Your role will also involve being a sherpa to Raft's technical team in guiding the path to success by aligning engineering and stakeholders behind common goals. To do this, you should have experience with roadblocks that can come in the future and plan to mitigate them. 

What we are looking for:  

• Hands-on experience in the development, management, or utilization of a Platform as a Service in the Department of Defense (DoD) or the private sector
• Knowledge of the complexities involved in constructing a cloud-based platform utilized by over 50 developers and at least 20 applications
• Familiarity with various open projects within the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) landscape and an understanding of the challenges posed by its continual growth
• Demonstrable leadership skills, having directed a team of 5-10 platform/software engineers with an emphasis on DevSecOps
• Knowledge of tested methods to minimize conflicts between developers and platform engineers.
• Previous experience as an operator in the USSF or military unit that supported Space missions.
• Understanding of DoD or industry security compliance, including but not limited to FedRAMP and NIST regulations
• Comfortable with leading team meetings such as stand-ups, managing sprint planning, and preparing product roadmaps.
• Demonstrates confidence and positions themselves as a thought leader within the DoD ecosystem and with government stakeholders
• Experience in crafting technical white papers, drafting responses to proposals, and active collaboration with the open source community
• Periodic travel to other customer locations

 Highly Preferred: 

• Managing a P&L of 20+ engineers 
• Willing to travel at least once a quarter to Raft HQ (Reston, VA) for a workweek 
• Demonstrable aptitude to always be learning 
• Passionate about writing, reading, and marketing products focused on developer happiness

Clearance Requirements: 

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance

Work Type: 

• Hybrid (Colorado Springs, CO)

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 
• Annual budget for your tech/gadgets needs 
• Monthly box of yummy snacks to eat while doing meaningful work 
• Team off-site in fun places! 
• 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