Software Acquisition Specialist

The Mission At Arcfield, we solve the nation’s most complex challenges and support the critical capabilities that protect and advance our national security. We are currently seeking an Acquisition Specialist to provide Systems Engineering Technical Advisor (SETA) support for the Merigold contract within the Ground Enterprise Directorate. This role focuses on the identification, evaluation, acquisition, and integration of emerging software development tools, technologies, and platform enablers.

The Role In this role, you will work at the dynamic intersection of acquisition, software development, and platform engineering. You will partner with Government stakeholders, developers, systems engineers, contracting professionals, and technology providers to understand emerging capability needs, evaluate potential solutions, and develop executable acquisition approaches that empower development teams across the enterprise.

The ideal candidate is an acquisition professional with a genuine interest in technology. While you do not need to be a software engineer, you should be curious about modern software development tools and capable of understanding their purpose, dependencies, licensing models, integration requirements, and security implications to help the Government make sound, defensible acquisition decisions.

• Technology Acquisition Planning: Drive acquisition planning and execution for software development tools, platform capabilities, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies, and other development enablers.

• Requirements Translation: Partner with systems engineers, software developers, enterprise architects, and mission stakeholders to understand technical needs and translate them into executable acquisition requirements.

• Technology Evaluation & Trade Studies: Research and evaluate emerging software development technologies, commercial products, open-source capabilities, and platform tools. Support technical and acquisition trade studies that assess capability, interoperability, security, licensing, cost, schedule, sustainment, and enterprise applicability.

• Artifact Development & Source Selection: Develop, review, and coordinate critical acquisition artifacts, including Statements of Work (SOWs), requirements packages, Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs), acquisition strategies, and evaluation criteria. Assist with solicitations, technical evaluations, source selections, awards, task orders, and post-award execution.

• Licensing & Lifecycle Analysis: Assess commercial licensing models (e.g., SaaS, FOSS), vendor dependencies, maintenance requirements, support models, and total lifecycle costs to ensure sustainable Government adoption.

• Rapid Acquisition & Integration Support: Support pilot, prototype, and evaluation activities for emerging development technologies. Coordinate the acquisition activities required to seamlessly integrate selected tools into Government development platforms and enterprise environments.

• Stakeholder Orchestration & Advisory: Act as the programmatic connective tissue among contracting, engineering, cybersecurity, platform, developer, and vendor communities. Track acquisition milestones, technical dependencies, risks, and deliverables. Develop briefings and recommendations that clearly communicate both acquisition tradeoffs and technical value to Government leadership.

• Clearance: Must possess and be able to maintain a TS/SCI with Poly.

• Education & Experience: Bachelor's degree in Business, Acquisition Management, Finance, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline with 5-7 years of relevant experience; OR a Master's degree with 3-5 years of experience; OR a PhD with 0-2 years of experience OR equivalent relevant professional experience.

• Acquisition Expertise: Proven experience supporting Government acquisition, contracting, procurement, or program management activities, including developing or coordinating acquisition requirements and supporting documentation.

• Technical Acumen: Demonstrated interest in software development technologies, platforms, and emerging technical capabilities. Ability to understand and communicate technical concepts sufficiently to support technology-focused acquisitions.

• Stakeholder Coordination: Proven ability to coordinate effectively across diverse technical, acquisition, contracting, and program stakeholders.

• Soft Skills: Strong analytical, organizational, writing, and…