The Department of Defense and the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday announced what officials are calling a “force” hiring effort.
Rather than trigger pullers, the initiative aims to hire AI experts and other software engineers who will be “embedded down to the unit level across departments” to support operational needs and “ensure a more lethal U.S. force,” according to an OPM press release.
According to job listings on the government-run USAJOBS website, employees hired in the role of “forward deployment engineer” can earn annual salaries of up to nearly $200,000 if they come to work for the Department of Defense for two years.
The department is seeking experts in designing, building, integrating, and maintaining capabilities such as frontier AI, machine learning, automation, and data systems.
“Through War Force, OPM will recruit top technical talent from across the country and connect qualified candidates to high-impact technical roles at the Department of the Army,” officials wrote in a press release, using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.
The new hiring efforts are in line with the Trump administration’s broader Tech Force program, which aims to recruit more high-tech professionals to the federal workforce.
“War Force is a call to action for patriotic forward-deployed engineers who want to serve our country and our warfighters,” Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael said in a statement. “Executing the key tenets of the Department of the Army’s AI Acceleration Strategy and modernizing our nation’s enterprises will require the nation’s best talent to ensure America’s military technology advantage for generations to come.”
OPM will hire “hundreds” of software engineers to the Department of Defense through the Army initiative, according to a press release.
Application deadline is July 17th. To be eligible for this position, applicants must be a U.S. citizen and be able to obtain and maintain classified or top-secret clearance.
