Scale's public sector business is growing rapidly, powered by customer demand for Donovan, Scale’s AI power-decision making platform for defense. At Scale, when it comes to performant large language models (LLMs), we believe experts are the new GPUs. We are hiring our first set of defense experts – joint staff planning officers – in order to develop fine-tuned LLMs for national security customers. You will be joining Scale’s public sector business as a pioneer in accelerating the adoption of customized LLMs by government customers. 

As a defense expert, you will sit at the quality assurance stage of generative AI tasks. Your primary job will be assessment expertise and support, including the writing, reviewing, and analysis of strategic and operational documents and text. You will regularly interface with machine learning engineers and operations teammates to optimize our workflows for improved model outcomes. This role may grow into training more junior writing specialists working on these projects. This position is a rare opportunity at a high-growth startup to be an early contributor in a cutting-edge field. If you are a current or ex-military officer looking to amplify your impact on AI initiatives in the public sector, this may be a strong fit for you.

You will:

  • Provide quality assurance of generative AI tasks related to joint staff planning topics that will drive model performance outcomes through supervised fine-tuning
  • Interface with machine learning engineers to align on approaches to generative AI tasks like model comparison or prompt response pairs
  • Work with an operations manager to improve overall workflows for generative AI tasks

Ideally, you'd have:

  • 10+ years as a military officer with intelligence, operations, aviation, or ground combat as your primary occupational specialty
  • One tour as an O-4 or higher at a joint command (e.g. European Command, Joint Staff, etc) in an intelligence, operations, or plans directorate
  • Graduate of a joint or service intermediate-level school (e.g. Command and General Staff College)
  • Deep interest in AI / ML applications for national security purposes
  • A strong orientation towards outcomes and a history of being scrappy when it counts

Nice to haves:

  • An active Top Secret clearance
  • A secondary occupational specialty as a service planner (e.g. Marine Corps MAGTF plans officer)
  • Multiple tours as an O-4 through O-6 at joint or combined commands, combatant commands, service component command (e.g. Army “G” staff, Navy “N” staff, or Air Force “A” staff), or part of a joint task force staff (especially in support of combat operations) management of Time Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD) in support of combatant commanders
  • Familiarity with OPLAN / CONPLAN operations roles consist of advising Joint and Staff Plans Officers on Joint Force Deployment Planning and Execution (FDP&E) matters in the deliberate, and crisis action planning environments, developing and sourcing of global force requirements and the refinement of forces and movement data for plan mobilization, deployment, employment, sustainment, and redeployment of forces

This role will start as a remote role and may grow to onsite work in locations like St. Louis or Washington DC. This a 6-month contractor position with the opportunity to renew. Compensation for this position is $10,000 per month. 

About Us:

At Scale, we believe that the transition from traditional software to AI is one of the most important shifts of our time. Our mission is to make that happen faster across every industry, and our team is transforming how organizations build and deploy AI.  Our products power the world's most advanced LLMs, generative models, and computer vision models. We are trusted by generative AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, government agencies like the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and enterprises including GM and Accenture. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an affirmative action employer and inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status. 

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision

PLEASE NOTE: We collect, retain and use personal data for our professional business purposes, including notifying you of job opportunities that may be of interest and sharing with our affiliates. We limit the personal data we collect to that which we believe is appropriate and necessary to manage applicants’ needs, provide our services, and comply with applicable laws. Any information we collect in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our internal policies and programs designed to protect personal data.

Apply for this Job

* Required
resume chosen  
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
cover_letter chosen  
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)


Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Scale AI’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.


Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.


Our system has flagged this application as potentially being associated with bot traffic. Please turn off any VPNs, clear your browser cache and cookies, or try submitting your application in a different browser. If this issue persists, please reach out to our support team via our help center.
Please complete the reCAPTCHA above.