Chief Technology Officer

Summary

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is the agency's lead expert on technology strategy, innovation, and modernization initiatives to the Social Security Administration's Commissioner and the Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CTO provides hands-on technical leadership; actively participates in architecture, design, coding, debugging, and code reviews across CIO product portfolio; and provides real-time guidance to engineering teams on complex challenges.

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Duties

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The CTO strategically advances the modernization of mission-critical systems, digital services, cloud and platform technologies, cybersecurity architecture, data and AI enablement, and enterprise infrastructure supporting the administration of Social Security programs and services to the public. The CTO collaborates with the agency's CIO and senior agency officials to communicate SSA's technology vision and strategy ensuring that agency architecture can support the growing and evolving needs of the enterprise.

Additionally, the CTO defines the agency's overall technology strategy and vision, ensuring alignment with the agency's mission, business goals, and objectives. The incumbent sets policy, provides governance and oversight, and delivers technical expertise in the following areas:

• Modernization of mission-critical systems and digital services
• Enterprise infrastructure
• Data and artificial intelligence (AI) enablement
• Solution engineering and technology integration
• Technology governance, standards, and best practices

Data & Systems Excellence:

Guides database design, SQL optimization, transaction management, ACID properties, distributed transactions, consistency models, and data-intensive applications.

Innovation with Al/ML:

Champions the adoption of Al technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), machine learning pipelines, and Al-powered development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Opus 4.6, etc.). Integrates these capabilities to accelerate development, improves product features, and enhances internal tooling.

Engineering Culture:

Fosters a high-performing, collaborative engineering culture focused on craftsmanship, continuous learning, and delivery of high-quality software. Eliminates unnecessary process overhead while maintaining rigor.

Risk & Quality Management:

Oversees technical risk, security, scalability, and performance across all products. Leads incident response and long-term reliability improvements.

Talent & Team Development:

Attracts, retains, and grows top technical talent. Conducts technical interviews, coding assessments, and ongoing skills evaluations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

To be considered minimally qualified for this position, candidates must have had responsible professional experience at a senior level (equivalent to the GS-15 in either the General Schedule (GS) or a comparable pay plan).

• May be subject to a 1-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• Federal employees must be in good standing.
• Federal employees must have a successful performance rating.
• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
• May be subject to pre-employment and random drug tests
• Must file an Executive Financial Disclosure Report OGE-278e within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
• This position is covered under the post-employment restrictions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (PL 95-521).
• You may be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.

There are three key documents that contain important information about your rights and obligations. Please read and retain these documents:

• Noncriminal Justice Applicant's Privacy Rights, for those who undergo an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history record check for personnel vetting, which includes Rap Back;
• FD-258 Privacy Act Statement - FBI (this is the same statement used when your fingerprints are submitted as part of your background investigation); and
• SEAD-3-Reporting-U.pdf (dni.gov), (applicable to those who hold a sensitive position or have eligibility for access to classified information).

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, candidates must possess specialized experience at a senior level (GS-15 level or equivalent) which demonstrates ability to perform the duties of the position, including progressively responsible experience directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Mandatory Technical Qualifications (TQs) below, which includes serving as a lead expert on technology strategy, innovation, and modernization initiatives. Typically, experience of this nature will be gained in a related field; in a position held for at least one year at the GS-15, comparable pay band or level above in the federal government; or comparable position with a state or local government, or private sector organization.

Mandatory Qualifications Requirements: All applicants are required to address each of the Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) below. Candidates must demonstrate that their experience meets the Mandatory Technical Qualifications for this position in their two-page resume and this experience must have been at a sufficiently high level of difficulty to clearly show the candidate possesses the required subject matter expertise and technical qualifications listed below. Candidates will not be considered for this position if each mandatory TQ requirement is not specifically addressed. Failure to meet any of the mandatory TQs will eliminate the candidate from further consideration.

To be considered, the resume must not exceed two pages. Written narratives for the Mandatory Technical Qualifications are not required. Candidates must demonstrate their experience meets the Mandatory Technical Qualifications for this position in their two-page resume. Resumes over the 2-page limit will not be reviewed beyond page 2 or may be disqualified.

MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (MTQs): Resumes must demonstrate accomplishments that would satisfy the technical qualifications.

TQ1: Experience as a hands-on technical leader and engineer who actively designs, develops, tests, deploys, and supports production-grade applications, services, APIs, integrations, and prototypes.

TQ2: Expert at writing high-quality code, solving complex engineering problems, debug issues, perform code reviews, and consistently delivering software in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment.

TQ3: Experience developing software for Mainframe system, Enterprise Java, and modern cloud-based solutions including Typescript, Node.js, Python, and Native Cloud Services.

TQ4: Experience building large, distributed, polyglot and heterogeneous microservices architecture that includes complex service orchestration and distributed transactions.

TQ5: Experience in advanced full-stack proficiency across user interface (UI) development, backend services, API design and development, database architecture, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD), DevSecOps, security, observability, and production operations.

TQ6: Experience establishing technical standards, mentoring engineers, driving modernization efforts, improving reliability and performance, and ensuring all solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with an organization's mission.

TQ7: Sustained track record of expert-level, hands-on software engineering shifting between architecture, coding, troubleshooting, deployment, and technical leadership.

TQ8: Deep, hands-on experience with modern AI solutions, including large language models (LLMs), generative AI, machine learning pipelines, agentic AI systems, intelligent automation, and AI-driven decision engines.

Time-in-grade requirements do not apply to SL positions.

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

WHO MAY APPLY: Applications will only be accepted from applicants eligible for one of the following categories.

• Federal employees currently serving under career or career conditional appointments, or currently serving in a career SES appointment;
• Federal employees currently serving under the following types of appointments: Schedule A, Reg. 213.3102 (U) appointments for individuals with disabilities; and time limited appointments for veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more;
• Former Federal employees eligible for reinstatement (i.e., those who have career status or separated from a career-conditional appointment less than 3 years ago);
• Current or former Federal employees eligible under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP); or
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) Eligibles (i.e., Preference-eligible veterans OR veterans who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 years or more of continuous service).
• Federal employees serving under excepted service appointments with competitive service compatibility (e.g., Postal Service, Foreign Service, an agency with an interchange agreement, etc.) may be eligible to apply. Please visit Excepted Service Appointments with Competitive Service Compatibility for more information.

NOTE: Excepted service employees serving under Schedule A appointments for Attorney positions or Pathways Programs appointments (Presidential Management Fellows, entry level candidates, and Interns) are not eligible for consideration.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

* This position is a Senior Level (SL) position in the federal government. SL employees are in non-executive positions whose duties are broad and complex enough to be classified above the GS-15 level. SL positions involve highly specialized and complex work.

*LOCALITY PAY: Locality pay is not applicable to SL positions. Salary will be set in accordance with agency SL pay setting provisions.

This is a critical sensitive position. The selected employee will be required to complete a Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions, in order to have the appropriate investigation conducted, unless the employee has been previously certified eligible to occupy a position at this level.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy Statement: ;br>
Employment Information Resources - Resource Center: ;br>
All application materials are subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act and become property of SSA.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.