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Part-timeWashington, D.C. metropolitan area

Founding Federal AI Governance & Programs Lead

Lead client-facing AI governance engagements and turn federal commitments into controlled delivery, evidence, and operational execution.

Why this role

Federal and regulated organizations need AI strategies that translate into decision rights, review paths, evidence, monitoring, and implementation gates—not principles that stop at presentation slides.

You will lead client-facing AI governance assessments and roadmaps while maintaining the delivery, compliance, acceptance, and payment discipline required for Aten's federal pursuits and any funded delivery.

This is a part-time, award-contingent role. We build candidate relationships before an award, then activate a written engagement only when funded work is authorized to begin.

Compensation

$120–$155 per hour; most initial offers are expected to fall between $130 and $145 per hour, depending on relevant experience and availability. This is an award-contingent independent-contractor engagement expected to run approximately four months at 20–24 hours per week, capped at 400 hours. No employee benefits or equity are included. Any extension or conversion depends on funded workload and mutual agreement. Engagement classification remains subject to review.

How we hire

High Energy. High Intelligence. Low Ego.

H₂O is Aten's standard for enthusiasm, competence, and character. We look for people who create momentum, exercise sound judgment, and put truth and the mission ahead of credit.

Read our hiring philosophy

What you will own

  • Lead executive and working-level stakeholder interviews, workshops, and decision sessions.
  • Assess AI governance, organizational, workforce, data, technology, privacy, security, and operational readiness.
  • Translate NIST AI RMF and applicable federal guidance into practical controls, ownership, evidence, and decision gates.
  • Design target operating models, decision rights, intake and approval paths, escalation, oversight, and executive reporting.
  • Evaluate roadmap scenarios across statistical, generative, and agentic AI, including a no-adoption outcome, dependencies, resourcing, monitoring, failure modes, and cost controls.
  • Evaluate candidate pilots and produce recommendations traceable to current-state evidence and executable constraints.
  • Translate awards and subcontracts into delivery calendars, responsibility matrices, acceptance criteria, evidence checklists, and invoice controls.
  • Coordinate registrations, flow-downs, security documentation, restricted-data boundaries, audits, and contract closeout.
  • Escalate legal, accounting, export-control, facility-clearance, and personnel-clearance questions to qualified specialists.

Expected outcomes

Milestones and expected outcomes.

First week

Review the governing agreement and client evidence, then deliver a sourced engagement plan, obligation register, stakeholder map, evidence structure, and immediate-risk memo.

Initial engagement

Deliver an accepted AI governance assessment, operating model, or roadmap milestone with traceable evidence, documented decisions, controlled scope, and invoice readiness.

What we are looking for

  • Experience leading enterprise AI strategy, governance, readiness, risk, or operating-model engagements in a federal or regulated environment.
  • Working knowledge of NIST AI RMF and the ability to translate guidance into practical organizational and technical controls.
  • Experience facilitating executive and cross-functional workshops and producing concise, decision-ready assessments and roadmaps.
  • Working knowledge of federal fixed-price delivery, acceptance, invoicing, flow-downs, and subcontract management.
  • Ability to distinguish binding requirements, customer preferences, assumptions, and matters requiring qualified legal or accounting advice.
  • Technical fluency across enterprise AI, data governance, privacy, cybersecurity, cloud platforms, and agentic-system risks.

Useful experience

  • FCC, USAC, civilian federal, federal health, or other oversight-intensive programs
  • AI inventory, use-case intake, model-risk management, privacy review, or Board reporting
  • Generative- and agentic-AI oversight, evaluation, monitoring, and cost governance
  • FAR and DFARS flow-downs, SBIR/STTR, CSO, OTA, ATO, CMMC, or NIST 800-171
  • Early-stage software, cybersecurity, or dual-use technology companies

Our working stack

  • Go, Python, Rust, and TypeScript product components
  • AWS and Terraform-managed infrastructure
  • Version-controlled compliance evidence and delivery records
  • Customer and prime-contractor procurement portals

How we evaluate

We use a hybrid process because the job requires both independent judgment and effective use of AI. You should be able to reason without a model, then use one to move faster while reviewing its output critically.

  1. 1A focused introduction call about the engagement and your relevant work.
  2. 2A practical discussion or scoped exercise based on a representative deliverable.
  3. 3Agreement on outcomes, access boundaries, availability, and initial engagement timing.

Location & Travel

Washington, D.C. metropolitan area

Residence in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Northern Virginia area is required. Expect regular onsite work at customer and partner locations in Washington, D.C., when an engagement requires it.