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.

Duties

• 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.

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, Recent Graduates, and Interns) are not eligible for consideration.

Requirements

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). Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. 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).

Evaluations

Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and extent of accomplishments and experience as they relate to the Technical Qualifications. This information will be obtained only from the 2-page resume. Failure to provide specific information from each of the Technical Qualifications will result in an applicant receiving a lower rating or disqualification. A minimum qualifications screening will be conducted by Human Resources. Eligible applicants will then be evaluated by a screening panel composed of a mix of senior executives/professionals selected for organizational and/or functional backgrounds relevant to this position. The panel discusses each application and reaches consensus as to the Highly Qualified, Well Qualified and Minimally Qualified candidates. Only the individuals in the Highly Qualified category will be referred to the Recommending Official for further consideration. Please make sure you answer all questions and follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your evaluation. To preview the questions, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12997874

How to apply

To be considered for this position, you must submit a complete application no later than 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on the closing date of the announcement - 07/15/2026. If you fail to submit a complete application prior to the closing time, the application system will not allow you to finish. Requests for extensions will not be granted, so please begin the application process with enough time to finish before the deadline. To apply for this position, you must complete this application and submit any required documents specified in the Required Documents section and submit by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Follow the prompts to select and upload your resume and/or other required documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the "Include Personal Information" section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. It is applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and uploaded, (i.e., resume and other required documents) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application. Application packages will NOT be accepted via mail.

What to expect next

To verify the status of your application, sign in to your USAJOBS account (https://www.usajobs.gov/), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position. After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application. Highly qualified candidates will be referred to the selecting official for further consideration and possible interview. Selection interviews may be conducted with one or more of the candidates, but there is no requirement that interviews be conducted. The hiring office will contact candidates directly for interviews.

Required documents

A complete application includes items described below. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified, and by the closing date of the announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible). Resume (2-page maximum) - All applicants are required to submit a resume limited to two (2) pages (i.e., 1 page that is double-sided or 2 pages that are one-sided each) showing all relevant experience. Your resume must address your technical qualification for the position. PLEASE DO NOT USE USAJOBS RESUME BUILDER. SF-50(s) - If you are a current or former Federal employee, you must submit a Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) that that reflects your grade/step (e.g., a Within-Grade Increase or Promotion/Reassignment), and career or career-conditional tenure in the competitive service. You may need to submit more than one SF-50 to prove possession of certain eligibilities. Current SSA employees are not required to submit an SF-50. If you are a former Federal employee with reinstatement eligibility, you must also submit your separation SF-50 showing your separation was not for performance or conduct reasons. If you are a current member of the SES, you must provide an SF-50 documenting your appointment, as well as an SF-50 showing satisfactory completion of the SES Probationary Period. You must also provide an SF-50 demonstrating proof of previous career/career conditional service in the competitive service. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL - If you are a current Federal employee, you must submit a copy of your most recent performance appraisal. You must also include an explanation if you have changed agencies and have not yet received a performance appraisal from your new agency. If you are a new Federal employee who has not yet received a performance rating, you must upload an explanation. Current SSA employees and VEOA applicants are not required to submit performance appraisals. NOTE: If you are a current Federal employee (non-SSA) applying under VEOA, you must submit a performance appraisal or explanation(s) as required above. VETERANS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ACT (VEOA) The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) includes those eligible for veterans' preference OR have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 or more years of continuous service, including veterans who were separated shortly before completing the required 3-year period. For more information visit the Vet Guide. If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your military discharge certificate (DD-214 member 4 copy preferred) or an official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty. To be acceptable, the document must contain dates and show Character of Service. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference based on a service-connected disability, you must also submit an Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference (SF 15) and the required documentation specified on the reverse of the SF-15. Preference will be granted based on the documents received. If you are a current active duty military member who does not have a DD-214 and are claiming preference under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must submit certification from the Armed Forces indicating that you will be discharged or released under honorable conditions from active duty within 120 days of the date on the certification. Certifications must be on letterhead from the appropriate military branch and include the following information: military dates of service and expected discharge or release date, the character of service, military rank, type of discharge, and date when terminal leave will begin. Certifications must be signed by or under the direction of military members' military personnel offices, unit commanders, or higher headquarters. NOTE: If you are a current Federal employee eligible under VEOA, you must submit an SF-50 as required above. INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) - If you are applying for selection priority under ICTAP, you must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility: a separation notice; a Notice of Personnel Action (SF-50) documenting your separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; or a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456. Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the announcement (07/15/2026) will result in your removal from consideration for this position.

Other 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: http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/index.cfm Employment Information Resources - Resource Center: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to 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 [email protected].