Subcontracts Manager, Public Sector

United States Digital Space LLC; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 166,000 - 249,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Learning and development stipend

Generous PTO

Commuter stipend

Job summary

Scale AI in Washington, DC is hiring a Subcontracts Manager to own day-to-day relationships with subcontractors on large Public Sector programs. You will translate contract milestones into deliverables, integrate activities into the IMS, and ensure secure, timely execution.

You will work with technical leads and program managers to maintain quality, manage risks, and maintain clear communication with engineers, executives, subcontractors, and government stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret clearance.
• 5+ years of experience in program management, technical program management, subcontractor management, or related roles.
• Experience managing external organizations against defined scope, schedules, milestones, and deliverables.
• Experience working with Integrated Master Schedules, Work Breakdown Structures, Statements of Work, deliverable tracking, and formal program reviews.
• Strong technical acumen to understand software, systems integration, interfaces, dependencies, and technical program plans without needing to approve the work.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day relationships with subcontractors supporting large Public Sector programs, including major defense primes and specialized partners.
• Understand Scale’s technical solution and ensure subcontractors understand how their scope fits into the overall solution.
• Translate prime contract milestones into subcontractor deliverables, timelines, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
• Integrate subcontractor activities into the Integrated Master Schedule and identify risks and schedule impacts.
• Hold subcontractors accountable for scope, timelines, deliverables, status reporting, and corrective actions when needed.
• Partner with Scale technical leads and program managers to review and approve technical quality while you own execution and coordination.
• Establish operating cadences with subcontractors, including reviews, tracking, risk management and escalation.
• Drive resolution of blockers across Scale teams, subcontractors, customers and other stakeholders.
• Lead onboarding of new subcontractors with program context, security requirements, and processes.
• Coordinate flow-down of security, access, compliance, and program requirements.
• Manage subcontractor administrative workflows including invoices, staffing changes, and documentation requests.
• Provide Scale PMs with clear view of subcontractor performance and escalate issues early.
• Build productive, high-trust relationships with subcontractor teams while upholding accountability.

Skills

Program management

Subcontractor management

Technical acumen

Communication skills

Influence

On-site collaboration

Tools

IMS

WBS

SOW

Job description

Scale AI is at the forefront of the AI revolution, helping the U.S. government unlock the potential of AI across national security missions. We’re building and deploying agentic AI solutions on large, complex government programs that increasingly require Scale technology to integrate with capabilities delivered by traditional defense primes and other subcontractors.

We’re hiring a subcontracts manager to own the day-to-day relationships, execution, and integration of subcontractors supporting our Public Sector programs. You will work alongside Scale’s Delivery team and technical leads to ensure our subcontractors understand where their work fits into the broader technical solution, deliver against committed timelines and requirements, and remain fully integrated into our overall program execution.

This role requires unusual range: you should be equally comfortable reviewing an integrated master schedule and discussing technical dependencies as you are resolving an invoice, onboarding a new subcontractor, or flowing down security requirements. You will need technical fluency to understand what Scale is building and how subcontractor capabilities fit into the solution, while using strong program management and influence to hold external partners accountable for results.

You will:

• Own day-to-day relationships with subcontractors supporting large Public Sector programs, including major defense primes and specialized technical partners

• Understand Scale’s overall technical solution and ensure each subcontractor clearly understands how its scope, interfaces, and deliverables fit into that solution

• Translate prime contract milestones and program requirements into clear subcontractor deliverables, timelines, dependencies, and acceptance criteria

• Integrate subcontractor activities into the broader Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) and proactively identify dependencies, risks, and potential schedule impacts

• Hold subcontractors accountable for committed scope, timelines, deliverables, status reporting, and corrective actions when execution falls behind

• Partner closely with Scale technical leads and program managers who will review and approve the technical quality of subcontractor work, while you own execution, coordination, and follow-through

• Establish clear operating cadences with subcontractors, including status reviews, action tracking, risk management, decision logs, and escalation mechanisms

• Drive resolution of technical and programmatic blockers across Scale teams, subcontractors, customers, and other external stakeholders

• Lead onboarding of new subcontractors and ensure they have the program context, systems access, security requirements, documentation, and operating processes necessary to execute

• Coordinate the flow-down and tracking of applicable security, access, compliance, and program requirements

• Manage subcontractor administrative workflows, including invoices, billing questions, documentation requests, staffing changes, access issues, and other day-to-day operational needs

• Provide Scale program managers with a clear view of subcontractor performance and proactively elevate issues before they impact government deliverables

• Build productive, high-trust relationships with subcontractor teams while maintaining a high bar for accountability and execution

Must haves:

• Active Top Secret clearance

• 5+ years of experience in program management, technical program management, subcontractor management, defense acquisition, systems integration, or a related role

• Experience managing external organizations against defined scope, schedules, milestones, and deliverables

• Experience working with Integrated Master Schedules, Work Breakdown Structures, Statements of Work, deliverable tracking, and formal program reviews

• Strong technical acumen and the ability to understand software, systems integration, interfaces, dependencies, and technical program plans without needing to be the engineer approving the work

• Demonstrated ability to operate across both technical and administrative domains, from engineering dependencies and program schedules to invoicing, onboarding, and documentation

• Experience building and managing integrated program plans with multiple teams, workstreams, and external dependencies

• Strong ability to influence organizations and individuals outside of your direct reporting chain

• Comfort holding sophisticated external partners accountable, including escalating performance issues when necessary

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with engineers, program managers, executives, subcontractors, and government stakeholders

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, particularly around commitments, documentation, financial workflows, and schedule management

• High ownership and a track record of proactively identifying risks and driving them through resolution

• Willingness to work onsite in the Washington, DC area as required to support customers, programs, and classified work

• Willingness to travel to subcontractor facilities as required

Nice to haves:

• Experience working with or for a major defense prime contractor or managing relationships with traditional defense primes

• Experience supporting large Department of Defense or Intelligence Community contracts

• Familiarity with government contracting structures, subcontract administration, FAR/DFARS requirements, and flow-down obligations

• Experience managing subcontractors delivering software, AI/ML, data, systems integration, or other technically complex capabilities

• Familiarity with AI/ML systems, generative AI, agentic workflows, APIs, data pipelines, or modern software architectures

• Experience supporting classified programs and coordinating security requirements, personnel access, and work across secure environments

• Familiarity with subcontractor invoicing, cost tracking, forecasting, and financial reconciliation

• Domain knowledge on technical topics related to homeland layered defense

*Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.*

The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of Washington DC is:

$166,400—$249,000 USD

***PLEASE NOTE:Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period b*