New
Posted: June 25, 2026
The Senior Enterprise Architect leads the structural definition, design, baseline mapping, and evolution of the Air Force Intelligence Community (AF IC) Information Environment. Because the Chief Data Officer (CDO) dual-hats as the AF ISR Enterprise Architect, this senior position serves as a cross-cutting resource providing critical architectural blueprints across the entire HAF A2 portfolio -directly supporting the shared equities of the CDO, CIO, CTO, and Authorizing Official (AO). The role is responsible for translating complex mission and business requirements into standard technology configurations, establishing interoperability guidelines, defining domain ontologies, and generating high-level strategic diagrams to ensure the Air Force maintains a decisive warfighting advantage across NIPR, SIPR, and JWICS domains.
- Work Location: [Hybrid- Colorado Denver/Colorado Springs or National Capital Region (NCR)]
- Security Clearance: [TS/SCI]
- Travel Requirements: [TDY’s as required by the Government]
Karthik Consulting is committed to providing competitive compensation based on the responsibilities of the role, required qualifications, security clearance level, relevant experience, certifications, customer requirements, geographic location, and overall business needs. The salary range listed for this position represents a good-faith estimate of the current compensation range for this role.
At Karthik Consulting, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range. Final compensation decisions are based on the facts and circumstances of each candidate’s experience, qualifications, certifications, clearance level, contract requirements, and overall alignment with the role.
A reasonable estimate of the current salary range for this position is $180,000 to $200,000 annually.
Employees may be eligible for company benefits and additional compensation programs, subject to company policy, contract requirements, and individual eligibility.
This role supports the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Digital Infrastructure Transformation. The mission focuses on modernizing, designing, and sustaining an integrated digital environment that transitions from historical hardware-based industrial constraints to software-defined digital processes. This modern enterprise architecture interconnects physical and virtual technologies across Data and Analytics, Sense-Making, Automation, Augmentation, and Artificial Intelligence (AAA), Hybrid/Multi-Cloud environments, Networks, and Zero Trust security frameworks to safely deliver intelligence to warfighters at the speed of relevance.
The role operates within the operational oversight of the AF IC Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Data Officer (CDO), IT Risk Management Framework Authorizing Official (AO), and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The work spans the entire spectrum of Air Force ISR Information Environment operations, encompassing strategic management, policy and instruction updates, capability portfolio management, and data sharing governance across NIPR, SIPR, and JWICS infrastructures.
- Lead the development, alignment, and long-term maintenance of a common enterprise architecture consisting of business process, information, data, application, and technology layers.
- Create, update, and maintain key architectural models, baseline descriptions, and target-state definitions that align cleanly with overarching Department of the Air Force (DAF), DoD, and IC strategies.
- Represent the different building blocks making up the enterprise, detailing their interrelationships and the structural design principles guiding their evolution over time.
- Define precise technical requirements for taxonomy, standards, guidelines, procedures, templates, and architectural tools to improve organizational agility and promote component re-use.
- Update strategic-level diagrams of the AF IC Information Environment architecture to visually articulate structural changes to corporate executive leadership.
- Translate high-level business and operational warfighting requirements into precise data management framework configurations and technology rules.
- Define data standards, architecture principles, and technical strategy to ensure data assets are securely postured for multi-domain discovery and integration.
- Conduct rigorous interoperability analysis of current and future ISR and IT systems to enhance joint warfighting capabilities across the enterprise.
- Assess and monitor communication and data exchange profiles specifically as they relate to systems supported by the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS).
- Develop and maintain AF IC Information Environment information technical implementation guides to absorb changes in higher-level joint service and industrial reference guides.
- Design and implement domain knowledge models to integrate complex data objects across the IC, DoD, and Air Force.
- Lead efforts to educate the workforce and register foundational AF IC Information Environment content with the Defense Intelligence Core Ontology (DICO).
- Build, publish, and manage semantic resources, metadata standards, taxonomies, queries, and version-controlled master semantic dictionaries for the AF ISR community.
- Spearhead Object Management System (OMS) implementation planning by facilitating technical workshops with enterprise stakeholders to develop a cohesive strategy.
- Support development of near-, mid-, and far-term operational objectives to advance Air Force Object-Based Intelligence (OBI) capabilities alongside key mission partners.
- Gather, review, and evaluate system and technical architecture depictions developed to support high-stakes acquisition decisions and corporate program reviews.
- Provide expert technical knowledge, architectural analysis, and structural counseling during comprehensive operations, architecture, and sustainment program reviews.
- Evaluate current and emerging technologies that extend the influence of the AF IC Information Environment further into theater to enable edge-level decision advantage.
- Analyze AF ISR cloud transition plans and recommend architecture modifications to ensure streamlined, transparent, and responsive transitions to secure Cloud Services.
- Identify opportunities to maximize the resiliency, efficiency, and agility of the digital backbone by recommending modern software-defined and cloud capabilities.
- Required: Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM-related or analytical field.
- Preferred: Master’s Degree in a STEM-related or management field.
- Required: CompTIA Security+ CE (or equivalent DoD 8570.01-M / DoD 8140 IAT Level II baseline certification).
- Preferred: The Open Group TOGAF Standard certification, Zachman Certified Enterprise Architect, or Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP).
- Experience: 6–12+ years of professional enterprise architecture, data architecture, or systems engineering experience within the DoD or Intelligence Community.
- Clearance: Final, verified TOP SECRET / SCI clearance day-one.
- Staff Expertise: Demonstrated background supporting HAF, MAJCOM, OSD, Joint Staff, or CCMD headquarters-level staff actions and coordination processes.
- Technical Modeling: Proven ability to build architectures, technical frameworks, and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) graphical depictions.
- Requirements Translation: Skilled at translating broad customer and functional requirements into highly technical solutions and structured operational capabilities.
- Deep knowledge of the AF ISR enterprise, including familiarity with GIISR, DI2E, DCGS, JWICS, and IC ITE infrastructures.
- Extensive background developing domain ontologies using modern, widely adopted industry semantic standards and government-approved platforms.
- Practical familiarity with cloud computing deployment models in private, public, and hybrid environments, alongside emerging Software-Defined Networking (SDN) architectures.
- Experience aligning acquisition-level system depictions with ISACA COBIT, ISO, or related architecture evaluation frameworks.
- ACCOUNTABILITY & OWNERSHIP
Takes complete professional ownership of enterprise blueprints, architecture baselines, and technical rules, ensuring all engineering products guide the enterprise design responsibly with sound judgment.
- COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION
Translates dense, highly abstract architectural, semantic, and ontology layers into plain layman presentations; coordinates effectively across multiple C-suite components (CDO, CIO, CTO, AO).
- ANALYTICAL THINKING
Evaluates complex system interoperability data, cloud transition dependencies, and legacy gaps across disparate systems to map out clear, evidence-based architectural target states.
- QUALITY & COMPLIANCE
Mandates strict documentation discipline across all architectural implementation guides and ensures target structures adhere explicitly to IC, DoD, and AFIs and security directives.
- ADAPTABILITY & INITIATIVE
Proactively identifies modern technical enhancements or emerging cloud capabilities to absorb changing mission environments, modernizing frameworks at the speed of relevance.
- CUSTOMER & MISSION FOCUS
Harmonizes baseline and target-state system depictions with the real-world operational needs of intelligence analysts outpacing adversaries at the warfighting edge.
