HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – The Platform One team is seeking applicants for its six-month residency program intended for building a strong core of development, security and operations users and professionals.
The goal is to accelerate DevSecOps capabilities within the Department of Defense. It’s an opportunity P1 has been offering for a few years, and there is a new focus on promoting it. Leadership wants a larger pool to fill the dozen or so slots expected to be available.
“We would love to get more eyes on it. It is hidden, and nonexistent unless you’ve heard of it,” said Maj. Elizabeth Larkin, operations director, P1, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
Candidates should be active-duty or DOD civilian personnel stationed in the continental United States. Desired skill sets include software development, cyber security, design thinking, software product management and acquisitions and contracting. Selected residents will be full-time P1 employees and work remotely on one of the program’s six value streams: Big Bang, Party Bus, Iron Bank, Cloud Native Access Portal and Cyber or Acquisitions.
“It is very competitive,” Ladonna McGrew, program and resource specialist and talent manager, P1, AFLCMC, said. “We are looking for people with certain skill sets.”
An interview panel comprised of all the value stream leads determines whether a candidate should be placed, and where. The value streams advocate for a particular set of skills, and the candidate has a chance to advocate for expertise they need to take back to their unit, while the program evaluates whether a potential resident will align with its culture.
Candidates are told up front the residency is not for those looking to coast by.
“Even though it is fully remote, it is jam-packed,” McGrew said. “You need to be independent and take care of business without us hovering over you; you need to hit the ground running.”
What comes out of the residency program is often a surprise to those involved.
“For those who have completed it, they did not know the amount of time they had spent working,” Larkin said. “It’s a unique experience.”
McGrew said briefings are conducted with residents at the midpoint and at offboarding to evaluate how the program can be improved to meet residents’ needs. Such feedback is as beneficial to the P1 team as it is for the residents.
“Because it is popular within the DevSecOps circle, we get a lot of those applicants who apply for P1 permanently,” McGrew said. “We can tap into that pool of personnel who have been through the P1 (residency).”
P1 officials say those who go through the residency often note how it has greatly impacted their careers.
“We have engineers who are not stationed here who go back and share it with others,” Larkin said. “It opens doors to something they have not thought about. For one resident, it totally changed his trajectory.”
The application submission window runs through June 21, and interviews will be conducted July 1 through July 12. Those selected will be notified July 16, and prospective residents must send back a memorandum of agreement signed by their commanders to confirm their seat on July 22. Confirmed selectees will receive an acceptance letter and begin their residency on July 31, and will conclude it on Jan. 31, 2025.
Platform One, headquartered out of Joint Base San Antonio, is a modern cloud-era platform which provides valuable tooling along with hosting DevSecOps pipelines, while offering a secure platform for microservices.
Visit https://p1.dso.mil/ for more information on P1 and its residency program.