Field Chief Technology Officer (Field CTO)

FirstMile Ventures; Silverthorne (CO); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Family leave

Flexible time off

Job summary

FirstMile Ventures is seeking a Field Chief Technology Officer (Field CTO) in Silverthorne, CO. The role involves leading technical engagements with government customers, particularly in the DoD and IC sectors. The successful candidate will have a strong background in AI/ML systems and extensive technical leadership experience. A competitive salary of $190,000 to $230,000 is offered, along with a hybrid working arrangement that provides flexibility. Comprehensive health benefits and family leave policies are included.

Qualifications

• 15+ years total experience across industry and government.
• 7+ years in technical leadership roles in federal market.
• Strong understanding of applied AI/ML systems.
• Active TS/SCI clearance required.

Responsibilities

• Act as the authoritative technical voice for Kamiwaza Federal.
• Own technical escalation for complex customer situations.
• Engage with systems integrators and hardware vendors.
• Serve as a spokesperson for Kamiwaza Federal.

Skills

Technical leadership

AI/ML systems

Communication skills

Security Clearance

Job description

Field Chief Technology Officer (Field CTO)

Location: Silverthorne, CO (Hybrid work)

Pay: $190,000 - $230,000 per year (Full-time)

Job Details

Pay: $190,000 - $230,000 per year

Job Type: Full-time

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Senior Federal Technical Leadership
  • Act as the authoritative technical voice for Kamiwaza Federal with DoD and IC customers.
  • Serve as a trusted technical and mission advisor to senior government leaders (GO/FO, SES), program executives, and operational stakeholders.
  • Lead classified and unclassified executive briefings, architecture reviews, and mission workshops; facilitate technical decision‑making.
  • Own technical escalation for complex customer situations, pilots, and competitive bake‑offs.
• AI & Platform Authority
  • Demonstrate mastery of:
    • AI/ML systems including LLMs, SLMs, VLMs, agentic frameworks, and evaluation/guardrails.
    • AI orchestration and inference at scale across cloud, core, and edge.
    • Distributed data platforms, streaming/event‑driven architectures, and real‑time situational awareness systems.
  • Retrieval and data orchestration patterns for mission data (RAG, entity resolution, polystructured data).
  • Model evaluation, governance, and trustworthy AI in operational settings.
  • Secure deployments in classified, air‑gapped, denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited (DDIL) environments.
  • Guide customers on secure AI adoption with full data containment and mission‑based access control.
  • Define federal reference architectures, deployment patterns, and “how‑to” guidance that accelerates pilots production.
• DoD & IC Go‑To‑Market Enablement
  • Partner with Sales, Capture, and BD leadership to:
    • Shape technical win strategies and differentiated solution narratives.
    • Qualify opportunities and influence bid/no‑bid decisions.
    • Support OTAs, rapid prototypes, pilots, and transition‑to‑production pathways.
  • Serve as the technical closer in high‑value, technically complex pursuits.
  • Build repeatable GTM assets: reference architectures, demo flows, competitive positioning, and enablement for account teams and partners.
• Bridge Engineering and Mission Reality
  • Translate operational mission needs into clear, actionable product and engineering priorities.
  • Provide continuous feedback to platform, security, and infrastructure teams based on real‑world government constraints.
  • Ensure internal teams understand classification, deployment, and sustainment realities.
  • Help drive internal alignment on packaging, deployment automation, documentation, and supportability for federal environments.
• Ecosystem & Partner Leadership
  • Engage and align with systems integrators, defense primes, hyperscalers, and hardware/edge vendors (compute, GPU, ruggedized platforms).
  • Drive joint reference architectures, integrated demos, and co‑sell motions that extend Kamiwaza’s reach into programs of record.
  • Enable partner technical teams with repeatable architectures, demos, and deployment guidance that reduce delivery risk.
  • Represent Kamiwaza Federal at classified program reviews, defense industry forums, technical advisory venues, and partner events.
• Thought Leadership & Evangelism
  • Serve as a visible technical spokesperson for Kamiwaza Federal through conference speaking, executive roundtables, webinars, and published technical content.
  • Translate complex AI and data topics into mission‑relevant narratives that build trust, urgency, and adoption.
  • Build and nurture practitioner communities (working groups, user groups, partner enablement sessions) that expand technical influence.
• First 180 Days - Mandate for Success
  • Days 0–60: Foundation & Credibility
    • Achieve deep mastery of the Kamiwaza platform, roadmap, differentiators, and federal deployment patterns.
    • Establish technical credibility with priority DoD/IC customers and key integrator partners.
    • Audit active pipeline opportunities; assess technical win probability and document top risks/gaps with mitigation actions.
    • Build strong working relationships and operating cadence with Sales, Capture, Engineering, Product, and Marketing/Communications.
  • Days 61–120: Influence & Differentiation
    • Define and standardize Kamiwaza’s federal technical narrative, reference architectures, and demo storylines.
    • Actively shape 3–5 priority pursuits with measurable impact on win strategy, competitive posture, and solution design.
    • Influence near‑term product roadmap and packaging to close mission‑critical gaps (security, deployment, sustainment).
    • Strengthen partnerships with key integrators and ecosystem players through joint architectures and aligned use cases.
  • Days 121–180: Scale & Impact
    • Increase technical win rate and deal velocity across priority accounts by creating repeatable playbooks and enablement.
    • Establish Kamiwaza Federal as a trusted technical authority within targeted commands and agencies; earn repeat invitations for deep dives.
    • Help transition at least one prototype or pilot toward production alignment (architecture, security/ATO path, and sustainment).
    • Execute an external thought leadership plan (speaking/content) aligned to federal GTM priorities for secure, mission‑ready AI.

Minimum Requirements

• 15+ years total experience across industry and government.
• 7+ years in customer‑facing technical leadership roles in the federal market (Field CTO, Deputy CTO, Chief Architect, Distinguished Engineer, Principal SA/SE leader).
• Demonstrated experience supporting DoD and/or IC missions as an industry technologist serving government customers and/or as a former government technologist who has transitioned into industry.
• Experience supporting OTAs, rapid prototypes, pilots, and transition‑to‑production pathways; familiarity with federal acquisition and program stakeholders.
• Proven track record operating in classified environments and communicating effectively within security constraints.
• Strong, practical understanding of applied AI/ML systems, data orchestration (RAG/streaming), distributed systems, and secure data architectures.
• Experience deploying software into classified, air‑gapped, hybrid, and edge environments—including disconnected/DDIL conditions.
• Working knowledge of DoD/IC security, RMF/ATO processes, and compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST 800‑53); ability to partner with cyber and accreditation teams.
• Ability to assess AI system trustworthiness in operational settings (evaluation, model risk, data governance, and auditability).
• Active TS/SCI clearance required.
• Ability to travel as required, including to secure locations and customer sites across CONUS.
• Ability to engage credibly with senior military officers (GO/FO), SES, and IC executives.
• Strong communication skills across technical and non‑technical audiences; able to lead executive workshops and influence technical decisions.
• Ability to influence outcomes without direct authority across Sales, Capture, Product, Engineering, and partners.
• Demonstrated impact on revenue outcomes through technical leadership (win strategy, competitive differentiation, and risk reduction).
• Experience enabling internal and partner teams with repeatable narratives, reference architectures, and demo assets.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior military service or direct government technology leadership (e.g., command/agency CTO, senior technical advisor).
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CISSP, PMP) and/or published work (technical articles, standards contributions, whitepapers).
• Established credibility with key DoD/IC communities, integrators, or mission partners in the DC Metro and CONUS.

Benefits

• Health insurance.
• Family leave.
• Low‑deductible medical plans, flexible time off, and supportive family leave policies.