Everforth ECS is seeking a T&E Gate Lead/Evaluation Science Lead SME to work in the National Capital Region covering the Pentagon, Falls Church, and Fairfax. Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award.
The War Data Platform (WDP) is a key initiative within the U.S. Department of War's (DoW) AI-First strategy introduced in early 2026. The WDP focuses on operational warfighting data and aims to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) on the battlefield. The WDP extends to Unclassified, Secret, and Top Secret environments, and supports collaboration between Combatant Commands, Joint Staff directorates, Senior Executive Service leaders, and operational analysts.
This role develops and governs test and evaluation capabilities within enterprise deployment pipelines, defining readiness criteria, gate policies, and mission assurance standards for AI and machine-learning model artifacts prior to production deployment across all WDP classification domains.
• Develops and governs test and evaluation capabilities within enterprise deployment pipelines to define readiness criteria, evidence expectations, pass and fail rules, and mission assurance posture prior to production deployment of artificial intelligence and machine-learning model artifacts.
• Establishes gate policy across all security domains supporting monthly releases for Department of War mission owners, Combatant Command analysts, Joint Staff elements, and Senior Executive Service leadership.
• Implements automated scanning pipelines for security vulnerabilities, integration bottlenecks, and cross-domain transfer validation using Kubernetes, GitLab Continuous Integration, SonarQube, Tenable Nessus, and hardened artifact packaging workflows.
• Applies evaluation science methodologies to validate model reliability, operational suitability, and mission alignment across production environments.
• Coordinates with Platform One, Cloud One, enterprise DevSecOps teams, and multi-national engineering partners to maintain compliant baselines, vulnerability-free components, and controlled API endpoint provisioning for production model access.
• Produces mission-critical deliverables-including readiness reports, evaluation scorecards, gate decision packages, deployment authorization documentation, and operational risk assessments.
• Leads collaboration across service branches to strengthen operational readiness, accelerate deployment timelines, and increase mission assurance across all environments.
• Maintains governance of model onboarding workflows, external model provider integrations, and Tier-4 incident response actions to uphold service-level agreements and program value commitments.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Current Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret (TS) security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
• CompTIA A+ certification.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in test and evaluation, evaluation science, or mission assurance engineering roles within classified or federal environments.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing automated T&E gate frameworks within CI/CD pipelines, including pass/fail rule authoring, readiness criteria definition, and deployment authorization documentation.
• Hands-on experience with vulnerability-scanning and pipeline-security tools-including Kubernetes, GitLab CI, SonarQube, and Tenable Nessus-with a proven ability to enforce gate policies and manage remediation workflows across multi-domain environments.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities, with a proven ability to weigh the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and identify the most appropriate solution.
• Highly developed interpersonal and oral/written communication skills, with the ability to effectively and professionally interact with a diverse set of stakeholders (from peers to end-users to executive management).
