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Careers
Drive mission AI from contract to fielded capability across cleared teams and high-consequence environments.
AI technical program manager jobs in defense turn mission needs into delivered AI capability, coordinating cleared engineering teams, customers, and security requirements from contract to fielding.
By the numbers. GAO reports that the expected time for major defense acquisition programs to provide even an initial capability "is now almost 12 years from program start," across a portfolio of 106 of the department's costliest weapon programs worth nearly $2.4 trillion (GAO-25-108528, June 2025). BLS projects computer and information systems manager employment to grow 16 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year (BLS).
This page is for program and project managers considering defense AI. It covers what the role is, why delivery speed is the central problem, how AI changes program management, what the work pays nationally and in Kansas City, and what it looks like at Torch.AI.
The Department of War (DoW, formerly the Department of Defense) Cyber Workforce Framework describes the role in pieces. A Program Manager (801) "leads, coordinates, communicates, integrates and is accountable for the overall success of the program, ensuring alignment with critical agency priorities." A Product Manager (806) "manages the development of products including the resource management, product strategy (physical or digital), functional requirements, and releases." And an AI Adoption Specialist (753) "facilitates AI adoption by supporting the users of AI-enabled solutions" (DCWF Tool v5.3, Sept. 2026).
At Torch.AI, technical program managers own the path from a mission need to a fielded capability:
From mission need to fielded capability
The program manager owns the whole path, not one stage: scoping ambiguity, keeping increments moving, and clearing the security gates that shape every milestone in defense work.
GAO reports major defense acquisition programs now expect almost 12 years to an initial capability, which is why incremental delivery is the policy default.
Because the department's programs take too long to reach users, and the evidence is consistent:
The policy direction is to make speed the default. Programs on the software acquisition pathway must show operational viability "not later than one year after the date on which funds are first obligated" (10 U.S.C. 3603), and a March 2025 memorandum made the Software Acquisition Pathway "the preferred pathway for all software development components of business and weapon system programs" (GAO-23-105867, recommendation status). A program manager who can deliver in increments, inside those rules, is exactly what the system is asking for.
AI programs add uncertainty that hardware and traditional IT programs do not have, and the talent to manage them is scarce. GAO reported the department "is not yet postured to compete with industry in hiring the large numbers of experienced, top-tier AI talent needed to build and deploy AI across the department," and that it "added the five AI work roles to the DOD Cyber Workforce Framework in September 2022" (GAO-24-105645, pp. 15, 17).
The comparison below is Torch.AI's view of how the job changes.
| Dimension | Traditional IT program | AI program |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements | Mostly known up front | Discovered through data and evaluation |
| Definition of done | Feature shipped | Model performance measured on real mission data |
| Risk | Schedule and cost | Schedule, cost, plus data quality and model behavior |
| Users | Trained once | Need ongoing adoption support (the DCWF AI Adoption Specialist role) |
| Delivery | Major releases | Incremental, under the software pathway's one-year clock |
BLS has no separate code for technical program managers; the work sits inside these occupations. The table compares national medians with the Kansas City metro, where Torch.AI is headquartered.
| Occupation (SOC) | U.S. jobs | U.S. median wage | KC metro jobs | KC median wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer and information systems managers (11-3021) | 670,570 | $175,140 | 4,710 | $168,050 |
| Project management specialists (13-1082) | 1,066,670 | $102,320 | 8,380 | $101,050 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national and Kansas City MO-KS MSA (28140). These are occupation-wide medians, not Torch.AI salaries.
Many do. Under 32 CFR 117.10, the government determines eligibility, and a contractor may request it only when classified access "is essential" to a contract. At Torch.AI, many roles require an active U.S. security clearance; others are open to clearable U.S. persons. The step-by-step path is in Kansas City AI jobs.
Our programs are high-consequence, so the bar is delivery that is correct, auditable, and useful to the mission. It is program management where the outcome matters and the environment is anything but standard. Torch.AI is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, with roles there and in the Washington, DC region (see current openings).
Is this you? You will likely do well here if you:
This may not be for you if you want fully specified requirements handed to you, you prefer process over outcome, or you would rather stay far from the mission the program serves.
Related paths: AI and Machine Learning Engineer, DevOps and DevSecOps Engineer, and Government Contract Accounting.
Current openings, locations, and clearance requirements are listed at torch.ai/careers. Each listing states whether the role requires an active clearance or is open to clearable candidates.