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Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.

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About the job

Responsibilities

The Mission At Arcfield , we solve the nation’s most complex challenges and support the critical capabilities that protect and advance our national security. We are currently seeking an Acquisition Specialist to provide Systems Engineering Technical Advisor (SETA) support for the Merigold contract within the Ground Enterprise Directorate. This role focuses on the identification, evaluation, acquisition, and integration of emerging software development tools, technologies, and platform enablers.

The Role In this role, you will work at the dynamic intersection of acquisition, software development, and platform engineering. You will partner with Government stakeholders, developers, systems engineers, contracting professionals, and technology providers to understand emerging capability needs, evaluate potential solutions, and develop executable acquisition approaches that empower development teams across the enterprise.

The ideal candidate is an acquisition professional with a genuine interest in technology. While you do not need to be a software engineer, you should be curious about modern software development tools and capable of understanding their purpose, dependencies, licensing models, integration requirements, and security implications to help the Government make sound, defensible acquisition decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Technology Acquisition Planning: Drive acquisition planning and execution for software development tools, platform capabilities, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies, and other development enablers.

Requirements Translation: Partner with systems engineers, software developers, enterprise architects, and mission stakeholders to understand technical needs and translate them into executable acquisition requirements.

Technology Evaluation & Trade Studies: Research and evaluate emerging software development technologies, commercial products, open-source capabilities, and platform tools. Support technical and acquisition trade studies that assess capability, interoperability, security, licensing, cost, schedule, sustainment, and enterprise applicability.

Artifact Development & Source Selection: Develop, review, and coordinate critical acquisition artifacts, including Statements of Work (SOWs), requirements packages, Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs), acquisition strategies, and evaluation criteria. Assist with solicitations, technical evaluations, source selections, awards, task orders, and post-award execution.

Licensing & Lifecycle Analysis: Assess commercial licensing models (e.g., SaaS, FOSS), vendor dependencies, maintenance requirements, support models, and total lifecycle costs to ensure sustainable Government adoption.

Rapid Acquisition & Integration Support: Support pilot, prototype, and evaluation activities for emerging development technologies. Coordinate the acquisition activities required to seamlessly integrate selected tools into Government development platforms and enterprise environments.

Stakeholder Orchestration & Advisory: Act as the programmatic connective tissue among contracting, engineering, cybersecurity, platform, developer, and vendor communities. Track acquisition milestones, technical dependencies, risks, and deliverables. Develop briefings and recommendations that clearly communicate both acquisition tradeoffs and technical value to Government leadership.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Clearance: Must possess and be able to maintain a TS/SCI with Poly.

Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Business , Acquisition Management, Finance, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline with 5-7 years of relevant experience; OR a Master’s degree with 3-5 years of experience; OR a PhD with 0-2 years of experience OR equivalent relevant professional experience.

Acquisition Expertise: Proven experience supporting Government acquisition, contracting, procurement, or program management activities, including developing or coordinating acquisition requirements and supporting documentation.

Technical Acumen: Demonstrated interest in software development technologies, platforms, and emerging technical capabilities. Ability to understand and communicate technical concepts sufficiently to support technology-focused acquisitions.

Stakeholder Coordination: Proven ability to coordinate effectively across diverse technical, acquisition, contracting, and program stakeholders.

Soft Skills: Strong analytical, organizational, writing, and communication skills, with the ability to manage complex dependencies in a Government SETA environment.

Desired Qualifications

Experience supporting Intelligence Community (IC) or DoD acquisition programs.

Familiarity with commercial software licensing models, Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS), Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud services, or enterprise software acquisition.

Exposure to modern software development concepts, including Agile, DevSecOps , CI/CD pipelines, developer tools, or software factories.

Experience supporting prototypes, pilots, Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs), IDIQ task orders, or rapid acquisition activities.

Familiarity with software supply chain considerations, cybersecurity impacts, or technology evaluation methodologies.

Equal Pay Act

This is the projected compensation range for this position. There are differentiating factors that can impact a final salary/hourly rate, including, but not limited to, Contract Wage Determination, relevant work experience, skills and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location (For Remote Opportunities), education and certifications as well as Federal Government Contract Labor categories. In addition, Arcfield invests in its employees beyond just compensation. Arcfield ’s benefits offerings include, dependent upon position, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay, Short Term and Long-Term Disability, Retirement and Savings, Learning and Development opportunities, wellness programs as well as other optional benefit elections.

Min: $86,380.08 Max: $150,198.20 EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and federal government contractor. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment as protected by law.