Information Architect

At Agile Defense we know that action defines the outcome and new challenges require new solutions. That’s why we always look to the future and embrace change with an unmovable spirit and the courage to build for what comes next.

Our vision is to bring adaptive innovation to support our nation's most important missions through the seamless integration of advanced technologies, elite minds, and unparalleled agility—leveraging a foundation of speed, flexibility, and ingenuity to strengthen and protect our nation’s vital interests.

**Requisition**: #1017

**Title**: Information Architect

**Clearance**: Top Secret clearance

**Location**: Arlington, VA; Falls Church, VA; Fort Meade, MD; Tampa, FL; Doral, FL; Stuttgart, Germany; Colorado Springs, CO; Scott Air Force Base, IL; Omaha, NE; Halawa, HI

**Overview**:
As an **Information Architect**, you will be responsible for enabling mission-aligned AI solutions by establishing the taxonomies, metadata, content models, and ontologies needed to ensure trustworthy, repeatable, and explainable system behavior. Working closely with data scientists, engineers, UX designers, and stakeholders from CDAO HQ and embedded teams, the** Information Architect**will help bridge the gap between raw data and operational insight.

This position requires both technical fluency and human-centered thinking, as you'll be responsible for organizing complex data environments to support AI utilities and tools, such as chatbots, agentic workflows, and automated labeling systems. You'll also define labeling strategies for structured and unstructured datasets and ensure metadata integrity across systems of record.

**Responsibilities/Duties**:
**Objective 1: Design and Maintain Scalable Information Architecture**

o Develop and manage taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and metadata schemas that support structured AI access and reasoning.

o Collaborate with UX, data, and engineering teams to define content models that support AI utilities (e.g., chatbots) and tools (e.g., task processors, auto-taggers).

o Lead the development of ontologies that provide machine-readable context for key mission concepts, aligning with DoD data frameworks and policy.

o Define labeling strategies that ensure consistency, retrievability, and explainability across datasets.

**Objective 2: Enable AI Readiness Through Data Labeling and Governance**

o Design and oversee human-in-the-loop data labeling workflows using specialized annotation tools and pre-defined ontologies.

o Annotate and categorize structured and unstructured data to enable ingestion into DoD data catalogs (e.g., Avana, Cliq, Palantir).

o Maintain and evolve a metadata governance framework to reduce model drift, bias, and hallucination risk over time.

o Contribute to the documentation and versioning of IA artifacts, ensuring they are integrated into DevSecOps and MLOps pipelines.

**Objective 3: Collaborate Across the ADA IR Portfolio to Align IA Practices**

o Work with CDAO HQ and embedded mission teams to document local data architectures, COOP plans, and existing environments relevant to AI workflows.

o Align IA deliverables with mission priorities by gathering user needs, mapping data flows, and identifying key decision paths during discovery.

o Coordinate with software and platform engineers to ensure IA artifacts align with source control, linting, documentation, and other engineering best practices.

o Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies to integrate IA deliverables into cross-functional backlogs and timelines.
- Objective 4: Support AI Lifecycle from Design to Operations

o Define success criteria and governance milestones for IA deliverables alongside model and pipeline development efforts.

o Monitor the effectiveness of taxonomies, labels, and metadata in operational AI tools and utilities, making iterative adjustments as needed.

o Create and maintain site maps, search models, and content navigation frameworks that improve human and machine retrievability of key information.

**Required Skills/Qualifications**:

- Experience: 5+ years in information architecture, content modeling, or knowledge management with a focus on data-intensive systems. Demonstrated experience with

taxonomy design, metadata management, data labeling, or ontology creation in support of AI/ML systems.
- Certifications: Relevant certifications such as TOGAF, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or SAFe Architect recommended.
- Technical Skills: Proficiency in designing data systems with tools like Hadoop, Spark, or AWS. Strong familiarity with Agile tools such as JIRA, Confluence, and version control systems.
- Interpersonal Skills: Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels. Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

**Preferred Skills/Qualifications**:

- Experience working in a DoD or federal contracting environment.
- Familiarity with AI/ML