Delivery Programs Lead

Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions. We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. With headquarters in McLean, VA, our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

About the role: 

The Delivery Programs Lead is a senior generalist role that sits at the heart of Raft's delivery organization, reporting directly to the Vice President of Delivery and Product. You will be embedded across Raft's programs, contract actions, customer relationships, and business growth efforts, learning the full operating model of a fast-moving defense software company from the inside out.

The person who excels here came up through a technical discipline, systems engineering, integration, math, or software development, and has since developed a sharp business and strategic instinct. You know enough about how software gets built to hold a credible conversation with an engineering lead, but you are equally comfortable sitting across from a contracting officer, drafting teaming agreement language, or briefing a program office on Raft's capabilities. You are meticulous on the details and ambitious on the mission.

This role is designed to grow. Someone who can own programs, drive contract actions, represent Raft to customers, and eventually stand in for leadership across the full delivery organization.

What You Will Do:

• Support the VP of Delivery and Product across program execution, contract management, business development, and operations, serving as an extension of leadership across the full delivery portfolio.
• Get into the weeds of contract actions, teaming agreements, pricing structures, data rights provisions, and other transactional details that underpin Raft's customer relationships and growth. Not necessarily as the expert, but as someone who can parse, synthesize, and flag what matters.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with DoD customers and program stakeholders, representing Raft professionally while always carrying a business and growth mindset.
• Track delivery health across multiple concurrent programs: milestone progress, risk exposure, cross-team dependencies, and staffing. Flag early, communicate clearly, and help solve before escalation is needed.
• Support and contribute to business development activities including proposal inputs, capability briefs, white papers, RFI/RFP responses, and customer presentations that reflect Raft's products and value proposition.
• Engage directly with engineering teams to understand software development progress, deployment readiness, and technical risks, translating between the technical and the programmatic without losing fidelity on either side.
• Develop and maintain program documentation, contract summaries, internal SOPs, and briefing materials that enable Raft leadership to make fast, well-informed decisions.
• Assist with operational functions including recruiting coordination, budget tracking, and internal reporting as the business requires.
• Absorb Raft's operating model, product portfolio, contract landscape, and customer ecosystem with intent to progressively own more, stepping into accountability as trust is built and context is gained.

• 3–6 years of experience in systems engineering, integration engineering, technical program and product management, or a closely related discipline. We are looking for a technical professional who has grown a sharp business and strategic instinct.
• Bachelor's degree in a STEM field (Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or closely related). A technical foundation is essential: you don't need to write production code, but you need to think rigorously about technical problems and hold your own in engineering conversations.
• Demonstrated experience working within or alongside software development teams, familiarity with Agile processes, DevSecOps concepts, or system integration is a significant asset.
• Exceptional attention to detail, particularly in written and structured artifacts. You catch what others miss. This matters in contract language, proposal content, and customer deliverables.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. You can write a crisp executive summary, draft a capability brief, and hold a room in front of a program office, adjusting register and depth as the audience requires.
• Strategic thinking paired with discipline and follow-through. You can zoom out to see the business angle and zoom in to execute on the detail without losing track of either.
• Assertive and confident in pushing ideas forward, with strong situational awareness about when to advocate and when to adapt. You read the room without being told to.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity. Raft's environment is fast, iterative, and often under-defined. You stabilize situations rather than waiting for clarity to arrive.
• High personal integrity and trustworthiness with customers and partners, always advancing Raft's interests with clarity and professionalism.
• Hungry to learn the business: contracting, pricing, acquisition, delivery execution, customer engagement, and growth. You don't need all of this on day one. You need the drive to absorb it.

• Prior exposure to government contracting, DoD acquisition processes, or the defense technology ecosystem, particularly FAR/DFARS, OTAs, or IDIQ task order structures.
• Experience contributing to teaming agreements, subcontractor negotiations, pricing models, or data rights provisions, or a genuine appetite to learn these areas quickly.
• Background in competitive team environments, collegiate athletics, military service, performing arts, or similar contexts that required juggling real demands, competing at a high level, and subordinating individual instinct to team outcomes.
• Experience preparing or contributing to government proposal responses, capability presentations, or other growth activities.
• Familiarity with JADC2, multi-domain operations, or DoD data modernization initiatives as customer context for Raft's programs.
• Exposure to financial or operational tracking functions, budget management, headcount planning, or resource allocation, even in a supporting role.

Clearance Requirements:

• Ability to obtain and maintain an active TS SCI security clearance
• No active clearance required to start

Salary Range: $110,000.00 - $150,000.00

Work Type:

• 100% on-site in Tysons, VA
• May require up to 25% travel to customer sites, partner locations, and Raft program offices.

What we will offer you: 

• Highly competitive salary
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Generous Referral Bonuses
• And More!

Our Vision Statement: 

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission. 

Our Customer Obsession: 

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there? 

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm. 

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.