ICF Next

Group Chief Technology Officer

ICF Next$281K — $478K *
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of direct involvement in building or scaling AI-first technology in production environments.
  • Experience shaping proposals and technical narratives in regulated environments, preferably federal.
  • Operational experience as a hands-on leader in a high-velocity AI or software product setting.
  • Deep knowledge in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), data engineering, and cybersecurity compliance.
  • Strong leadership and mentoring capabilities with a track record of influencing peers and executives.
  • Technical foundation with a degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

  • Set and drive DMX's technology direction, emphasizing AI and emerging technologies.
  • Engage as a senior technology executive with CXOs and federal mission leaders to shape transformation roadmaps.
  • Develop scalable delivery patterns across all areas of technology, focusing on AI's role.
  • Lead technology evaluations and customer demonstrations to promote technology adoption.
  • Challenge underperforming programs with technical judgment and architectural oversight.
  • Mentor senior technologists, enhancing the technical capabilities of the DMX team.
  • Collaborate with enterprise CTO and other leadership to align technology investments with priorities.

Benefits

  • Hybrid working arrangement with a focus on work-life balance.
  • Opportunities for mentorship and professional development.
  • Access to a strong network of technology leaders within the organization.
  • Involvement in high-impact transformation projects with government and enterprise clients.
Full Job Description
The Digital Modernization & Experience (DMX) Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO) plays a pivotal role in driving customer engagement, solution strategy, and growth-oriented technology leadership across the DMX portfolio. The Group CTO engages directly with government and enterprise customers to shape technology visions, guide modernization strategies, and position ICF as a trusted technology partner. Key is:
  • Partnering with the DMX Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to shape DMX's technology direction;
  • Setting the bar for how artificial intelligence (AI) is brought into federal modernization delivery;
  • Representing DMX's technical position to government and enterprise customers; and
  • Executing the Group's technology offerings for the future.


The Group CTO is AI-first in mindset and judgment, with the breadth to layer modern AI capability into DMX's existing cloud, data, cybersecurity, and software engineering work.

The DMX Group CTO sets and pressure-tests technology direction, advises the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), supports technical and commercial diligence on acquisition targets , and represents DMX's technical position to government and enterprise customers. The role emphasizes product judgment, AI conviction, and the standing to challenge programs that aren't delivering expected results and outcomes.

What This Role Is Not:
  • This is not a delivery executive or profit and loss (P&L) role.
  • This is not a Chief AI Officer. AI is core, not the totality.
  • The Group CTO shapes DMX's technology direction alongside the Strategy and SLT, bringing the technical-reality lens to decisions that the Strategy Lead approaches from a market and growth lens.


Location:

This role will be based in the Washington, DC area as a hybrid position aligned to ICF's Reston, VA headquarters. Remote candidates with strong qualifications, experience, and the ability to travel may be considered.

Key Responsibilities:
  • Set and own DMX's technology direction, with a clear point of view on how AI and emerging technologies reshape federal modernization delivery and what that means for our customers.
  • Serve as a senior, client-facing technology executive engaging CXOs and federal mission leaders to shape transformation roadmaps and trusted-advisor relationships.
  • Shape solution strategy on the highest-stakes pursuits and captures, including early customer engagement, solution architecture, technical differentiation, and pricing input.
  • Develop scalable, repeatable delivery patterns across cloud, data, cybersecurity, digital modernization, and AI, with particular emphasis on where AI accelerates or changes the business model of the others.
  • Lead technology evaluations, proofs of concept, executive briefings, and client demonstrations to drive adoption and customer buy-in.
  • Provide architecture and engineering judgment across DMX programs, grounded in current, practical technical depth, including the standing to challenge initiatives that are not on a credible path to value.
  • Stay current on emerging technology and applied AI research and translate the relevant signal into specific DMX bets and customer recommendations.
  • Develop and mentor senior technologists and architects across DMX, strengthening the technical bench and communities of practice.
  • Partner with the enterprise CTO function, other ICF Group and Field CTOs, business leaders, and partners to align technology investments with growth priorities.
  • Support technical and commercial diligence on acquisition targets, including valuation model review, and assessment of whether a target's technical claims support its projected growth.


Qualifications & Skills:
  • Built or scaled AI-first technology in production within the last 5 years, with direct involvement in technical decisions. Breadth to operate at the enterprise level. Years of tenure are not a primary screen.
  • Defensible, experience-grounded point of view on what AI can and cannot do in regulated mission environments, with the judgment and standing to call out vendor and internal hype when it appears.
  • Operated as a hands-on technical leader at a high-velocity AI or software product company or led the integration of modern AI capability into enterprise delivery at scale. Led it - not governed or reviewed it. Comparators include Palantir, Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale, Cohere, and similar.
  • Demonstrated success shaping captures and proposals in regulated environments, including solution architecture and executive-level technical narratives. Federal experience preferred but not required if AI conviction and adjacent regulated-market experience are strong.
  • Working depth in cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP), modern data engineering, and AI-augmented software delivery. Sufficient ground in cybersecurity and compliance to navigate ATO, NIST, and FISMA.
  • Experience guiding architectural standards, governance models, and technical guardrails across multiple programs or portfolios.
  • Strong leadership, communication, and mentoring skills, with a track record of influencing senior peers and customer executives without org chart authority.
  • Strong technical foundation, evidenced by a Bachelor's degree in a technical field, advanced research training, or equivalent demonstrated technical depth.


Professional Skills:
  • Ability to influence behavior, with both implicit and explicit authority.
  • Excellent communication skills with ability to convey complex and highly technical concepts in understandable ways to clients and internal partners.
  • Strong commitment to working collaboratively in a team, with a passion for excellence.
  • Flexible approach to managing multiple priorities and adapting to changing demands.
  • Sound business ethics, including the protection of proprietary and confidential information.
  • Ability to work effectively with all levels of internal staff, including executive management.
  • Results-driven and self-motivated, while keeping others informed on progress toward goals.


Success in the first 12 months:
  • Establishes a clear technology direction for DMX that the SLT, customers, and partners recognize as differentiated, with a credible point of view on how AI reshapes our delivery.
  • Visibly engaged with priority customers and accounts, supporting executive conversations, solution shaping, and capture efforts.
  • Influences priority pursuits through differentiated solution strategies and technical leadership.
  • Recognized by DMX's senior architects and engineers - across cloud, cyber, AI, software engineering, and data programs - as a credible technical peer.
  • Demonstrates AI-augmented delivery on existing DMX engagements as replicable patterns, with measurable improvements in delivery velocity, quality, and margin.
  • Strengthens the DMX technology leadership bench through mentoring, recruiting, role clarity, and community building.
  • Builds strong working partnerships with the enterprise CTO function, other ICF group CTOs, business leadership, and delivery executives.


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Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is:
$281,358.00 - $478,309.00

Reston, VA (VA30)

About ICF Next

ICF Next is a global marketing and communications agency that provides a wide range of services to clients in various industries, including healthcare, energy, and transportation. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. ICF Next offers a comprehensive suite of services, including branding, digital marketing, public relations, and social media management. The company has a strong reputation for delivering innovative and effective solutions that help its clients achieve their business objectives. ICF Next is committed to sustainability and social responsibility, and it has received numerous awards for its work in these areas.
Learn more about ICF Next
Size
8,000 employees
Market Cap
$1.8 billion
Industry
Net Income
$54.9 million
Founded
1969
5 Year Trend
+5.6%
Revenue
$1.5 billion
NASDAQ

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