Innovation & Technology Strategist

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Act as the main resource for the Service Design & Experience team in identifying and assessing emerging technologies and technology-driven opportunities.

• Engage in ongoing environmental scanning within commercial, Federal, DoD, and industry innovation ecosystems.

• Convert technology trends into specific experiential opportunities aligned with user needs, service challenges, operational issues, or strategic goals.

• Investigate and assess AI/ML, intelligent automation, data and analytics, digital experience platforms, cloud technologies, personalization, conversational interfaces, and other developing technologies.

• Perform assessments of products, platforms, vendors, and capabilities, focusing on functionality, maturity, architecture, interoperability, integration, scalability, and mission relevance.

• Create and implement evidence-based frameworks for technology evaluation.

• Work collaboratively with UX researchers, strategists, designers, architects, AI/ML specialists, developers, cybersecurity experts, and other domain specialists.

• Formulate innovation initiatives as hypotheses or problem statements with measurable success indicators.

• Design and facilitate rapid experiments, prototypes, proofs of concept, and initial pilot projects.

• Integrate human-centered design, user research, rapid prototyping, and iterative testing into the experimental process.

• Establish evaluation criteria and gather qualitative and quantitative data from experiments and pilot projects.

• Identify technical dependencies, architectural and data requirements, integration needs, accessibility implications, cybersecurity concerns, and implementation challenges.

• Generate innovation briefs, technology evaluations, capability analyses, pilot outcomes, and recommendations.

• Lead technology demonstrations, discovery workshops, innovation sessions, and vendor or platform engagements.

• Maintain a portfolio of emerging technology opportunities, research findings, experiments, prototypes, evaluation materials, lessons learned, and recommendations.

• Keep track of Federal and DoD modernization guidance, standards, policies, and technological advancements.

• Evaluate the integration of promising capabilities with MC&FP platforms, applications, data, APIs, CMS, and enterprise architecture.

• Assist in transitioning validated innovations into product definitions, roadmaps, requirements, backlog planning, and technical delivery.

• Monitor implemented innovations and performance metrics to assess if the anticipated user, experience, or mission benefits are achieved.

• Offer forward-looking recommendations to the SDEL regarding technology-enabled experience opportunities, evidence, risks, dependencies, and implementation considerations.

⛳️ Requirements

• Active Secret clearance or higher.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Design, Engineering, or a related discipline.

• At least 5 years of experience in technology research, analysis, or innovation support.

• Proven experience in conducting market research, technology assessments, or vendor/platform evaluations.

• Experience in supporting pilots, prototypes, or early-stage technology testing.

• Background in federal, DoD, or enterprise IT environments.

• Knowledge of innovation trends across AI/ML, automation, analytics, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity.

• Familiarity with technology assessment frameworks and evaluation techniques.

• Experience analyzing product capabilities, architectures, and integration requirements.

• Strong analytical and research skills.

• Proficiency in technical diagramming, wireframing, and information mapping.

• Exceptional written communication skills and the ability to summarize findings concisely.

• Capability to translate market trends into actionable recommendations.

• Strong presentation and stakeholder engagement abilities.

• Ability to evaluate complex technologies and clearly articulate key differentiators.

• Preferred: experience in supporting innovation or modernization initiatives in large organizations.

• Preferred: familiarity with design-thinking, user research, or experimentation methodologies.

• Preferred: experience working in AWS Gov Cloud environments.

• Preferred certifications: ITIL v4 Foundation; technology research, innovation management, or product evaluation certifications.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer.

• Pay transparency protections.

• Resume and personal information considered for this and similar positions.