AI - Advanced Technology Lead

The AI/Advanced Technology Lead provides technical leadership for evaluating, piloting, and integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to improve Agency IT and cybersecurity outcomes. This role establishes practical AI governance, ensures responsible and secure use of AI capabilities, and partners with cybersecurity, engineering, and program management stakeholders to deliver measurable value while maintaining compliance, privacy, and audit readiness under the strategic oversight of the Agency CIO/PMO.

• Lead identification and prioritization of AI/advanced-technology use cases that improve cybersecurity operations, continuous monitoring, reporting quality, and workflow efficiency.
• Define and implement AI governance practices, including intake, approval, model/data controls, documentation standards, and monitoring for performance and risk.
• Design and oversee AI/ML integration into Agency workflows and platforms (e.g., security operations, documentation management, metrics automation) while ensuring traceability and maintainability.
• Ensure AI solutions align with federal cybersecurity and privacy expectations by coordinating with cybersecurity leadership on control implementation, risk assessments, and secure architecture patterns.
• Develop and maintain AI-related policies, procedures, and technical guidance (e.g., prompt handling, data usage rules, model access, and testing) aligned with applicable federal guidance and Agency governance.
• Support audit readiness by producing and maintaining documentation for AI solutions (e.g., system descriptions, data flows, testing evidence, approvals, and change records) suitable for internal review and external audits.
• Partner with incident response and threat intelligence stakeholders to assess AI-related threats (e.g., prompt injection, data leakage, model misuse) and define mitigations, monitoring, and response playbooks.
• Collaborate with systems engineering and enterprise architecture stakeholders to integrate AI capabilities into modernization planning, ensuring interoperability, scalability, and compliance.
• Establish measurement plans and success metrics for AI pilots and deployments; provide recurring updates to the Agency CIO/PMO and stakeholders on outcomes, risks, and next steps.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, AI, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in AI/ML integration and governance.
• Experience with platforms such as Azure AI, OpenAI, and/or TensorFlow.
• Knowledge of AI risk frameworks (e.g., NIST AI RMF).
• Ability to translate business and mission needs into implementable AI solutions, including requirements definition, pilot planning, and operational handoff.
• Strong communication skills for explaining AI concepts, risks, and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience implementing responsible AI controls in regulated environments (e.g., data minimization, access control, human-in-the-loop review, and monitoring).
• Familiarity with NIST cybersecurity concepts and federal compliance environments (e.g., system authorization documentation, audit evidence practices, and change control).
• Experience building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) solutions and knowledge management workflows using approved enterprise repositories.
• Experience integrating AI capabilities with security operations tooling, ticketing/workflow platforms, or reporting pipelines.
• Ability to prototype quickly while producing the documentation and controls required for operational deployment.

Core Competencies and Deliverables

• AI use-case backlog with prioritization rationale, success metrics, and implementation roadmap.
• AI governance artifacts (e.g., intake/approval workflow, risk assessments, model/data inventories, and monitoring plans).
• Pilot and deployment documentation (e.g., architecture diagrams, data-flow descriptions, testing/validation results, and operational runbooks).
• Security and privacy recommendations for AI solutions, including threat modeling outputs and mitigation tracking.
• Change records and audit-ready evidence packages for AI-related implementations.
• Recurring stakeholder updates summarizing progress, outcomes, risks/issues, and next steps.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.

• Possess the ability to fulfill any and all office activities normally expected in an office setting, to include, but not limited to:  remaining seated for periods of time to perform computer entry, participating in filing activity, lifting and carrying office supplies.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to fifteen (15) pounds.
• May require more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position.
• Fine hand manipulation (keyboarding).

Work Environment:  The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• May work prolonged or irregular hours.
• Frequent local travel; occasional statewide or out-of-state travel.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• Exposure to general office conditions while conducting office duties.

Working at Edgewater Federal Solutions:

Edgewater Federal Solutions is a privately held government contracting firm located in Frederick, MD. The company was founded in 2002 with the vision of being highly recognized and admired for supporting customer missions through employee empowerment, exceptional services, and timely delivery. Edgewater Federal Solutions is ISO 9001, 20000-1, 270001 certified, appraised at CMMI Level 3 Maturity for Development and Services, and has been named in the Top Workplaces in the Greater Washington Area Companies since 2018.

Edgewater Federal Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It has been and continues to be our policy to provide equal employment to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender,  national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status and/or other status protected by applicable law.