SPECTRA Enabling Technologies (TA4) SETA – Real-World Assessment and Quality of Life (#26-168) in Arlington, Virginia at Strategic Analysis, Inc.

Strategic Analysis, Inc. (SA) is actively seeking a SPECTRA Enabling Technologies (TA4) SETA (Real-World Assessment and Quality of Life). This is a Science and Engineering and Technical Advisor (SETA) role focused on providing technical guidance and oversight.

Program Overview

ARPA-H's SPECTRA program (Systems for Phenotypic Evaluation, Clinical Trajectories, Response, and Agency) aims to change how autism is assessed and supported. It replaces reliance on behavioral observation alone with objective measurement that combines many factors across a person's life. The goals are to improve quality of life, independence, and autonomy for autistic people, and to make assessment continuous, real-world, and part of everyday life (ARPA-H, n.d.-b).

SPECTRA has four connected technical areas (TAs):

• TA1 – Analysis: tools that link genetic, environmental, family, metabolic, immune, and developmental factors to different paths in development, health, communication, and daily function.
• TA2 – Modeling/Integration: AI platforms that map those paths across many sites while keeping data private, and identify factors that can be changed to improve outcomes.
• TA3 – Precision Intervention: choosing and rigorously testing interventions matched to each person.
• TA4 – Enabling Technologies: accessible tools for communication, quality of life, and embedded assessment. These tools measure real-world function as a byproduct of ordinary use.

This SETA position supports TA4. TA4's core idea is that sustained use is what makes assessment possible: useful tools keep people engaged, and that ongoing use produces continuous real-world data. Those data feed TA1 analysis and TA2 modeling (ARPA-H, 2026).

Specific Duties Required:
• Provide internal subject matter expertise on technologies autistic people use in everyday life, and on how those tools can produce useful assessment data through ordinary use. Settings include home, school, work, and the community. Uses include communication (including AAC), daily living, independence, and participation.
• Give insight on whether program goals and proposed approaches are conceptually and technically sound:
• Is the tool useful enough that people will keep using it?
• Do its built-in measures track real-world function in ways that matter?
• Is it accessible and acceptable, with a choice between wearable and contactless options (ARPA-H, n.d.-b)?
• Help set goals, expectations, and budgets for TA4 projects, including performance and adoption targets.
• Help review and oversee funded TA4 projects, including:
• real-world validation
• co-design with autistic users and families
• integration of data streams with TA2 (ARPA-H)

Experience/Expertise Required:
• Work with autistic people or other disability communities
• Accessibility and universal design, beyond Section 508 / WCAG compliance
• Co-design or Participatory Design Methods
• Measurement in school settings, including IEP goals
• Machine learning on sensor, audio, video, or language data
• Lived experience of autism is a plus. Disclosure is voluntary and not required.

Minimum Degree Requirement:
• Master's degree in human-computer interaction, computer science, biomedical or electrical engineering, assistive technology, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, psychology/developmental science, or a related field. PhD or equivalent experience preferred.

Location: Position is remote.

Travel: Periodic travel may be required

Clearance: Ability to obtain HHS Public Trust.