At Defense Unicorns, we make software a strategic deterrent with solutions that promote data independence, portability, and efficiency. Backed by Sapphire.
About the role
Own the end-to-end technical architecture and serve as the primary technical SME across the platform ecosystem. Become a trusted technology advisor to the mission hero, translating mission objectives into pragmatic technical choices and providing clear recommendations, tradeoffs, and risk assessments. Create and maintain the architectural “big picture” across application, platform, AI, data, networking, security, identity, and integration layers. Found on 1752vc Careers, the job board for startup and VC roles.
What they're looking for
- Active TS/SCI clearance
- Local to the National Capital Region and able to support onsite work at a government facility in Springfield, Virginia, availability for increasing onsite/SCIF interaction as the program scales
- 8+ years of experience in systems engineering, platform engineering, cloud architecture, DevSecOps, or solution architecture, with demonstrated ownership of complex technical environments
- Deep hands-on understanding of Kubernetes and enterprise container platforms, preferably Red Hat OpenShift.Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, GitOps, APIs, networking, identity, secrets, and observability
- Familiarity with NIST 800-53, RMF, ATO/C-ATO, zero-trust architecture, software supply-chain security, and continuous authorization
- Ability to understand and communicate system architecture across application, platform, AI, data, and security boundaries
More about this role
Mission Value: Serve as the technical authority across a complex, multi-vendor AI and software platform, helping the government team make sound architecture decisions, resolve cross-platform integration challenges, and establish repeatable patterns that accelerate mission delivery.
Defense Unicorns is seeking a senior Technical Lead / Platform Solution Architect to embed with a government team and serve as the go-to technical subject matter expert across the platform architecture. This individual will connect the mission, engineering, security, data, AI, and vendor perspectives into a coherent technical approach and become a trusted technology advisor to the mission hero.
The role is intentionally hands-on and strategic. The Technical Lead will work across Kubernetes/OpenShift, GitLab and CI/CD, AI/agent infrastructure, enterprise data services, cloud infrastructure, security controls, and integration patterns. They will guide technical decisions, challenge assumptions, identify architectural risks early, and help the team move from prototype to operational capability. The ideal candidate can move fluently between executive-level mission conversations and deep technical...
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