Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program (ICAP) Fellowship

Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program (ICAP) Fellowship is sponsored by Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Defense Acquisition University (DAU). A 12-month fellowship providing hands-on experience in commercial acquisition, enhancing readiness for DoD market engagement.

DIU - Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program (ICAP) A competitive program for acquisition professionals who are willing and excited to be the bridge between the Department of Defense and the commercial tech world. Access to cutting-edge, commercial technology is vital for our national security.

To ensure Service members have timely access to commercial technology, the Department of War (DoW) is promoting broader use of agile acquisition methods by training a corps of acquisition professionals on the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) acquisition process.

Recognizing the need to keep pace with commercial product cycles and adopt commercial procurement best practices, the Warfighting Acquisition University (WarU) and DIU have joined forces to develop and implement the Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program (ICAP).

Under ICAP, DoW acquisition personnel will work on Service-aligned projects, alongside a DIU contracting officer and project team as well as commercial solution providers on a variety of projects. ICAP participants will also take virtual classes on Other Transaction (OT) authorities through WarU’s Credentials Program.

The primary objectives of the ICAP program include: Educate and provide top DoW contracting officers with experience on how to effectively acquire innovative commercial technologies from non-traditional defense contractors. Provide experience and insight into how the commercial market operates and what drives a commercial organization to do business with the government/DoW.

Empower change agents and arm contracting officers with the relevant tools and knowledge on how to craft acquisition, contracting, and negotiation strategies that can effectively incorporate commercial technology and non-traditional vendors into the DoW acquisition ecosystem.

Provide organizations with trained contracting officers able to train others, fluent in the innovation ecosystem and networked with other service components contracting officers. We know that the private sector has options on who they work with. It is in DoD’s interest to be an attractive business partner, otherwise we run the risk of losing out on commercially-developed mission-critical and even life-saving technology.

DIU’s CSO process and our use of the OT authority provides flexibility and allows us to work at commercial speeds. Our aim with the ICAP program is to help other acquisition professionals learn to ‘speak commercial’ and share this knowledge with their peers so that DoD can better acquire innovative commercial technologies."

-Cherissa Tamayori, Director, DIU Acquisition Directorate Application Process & Materials Applications for the fiscal year 2026 ICAP Fellowship are now closed. As an ICAP Fellow, You Will Have Opportunities To Be a Thought Leader Our fellows inspire and engage their peers across the acquisition community: Become an innovator within the acquisitions community. Share your experiences with peers.

Who should consider applying? What are your candidate criteria? Candidates must be a permanent government civilian (GS-13/14 or NH-03/04 1102 series) or active component military contracting officer (Major/Lieutenant Colonel).

The program will be 12 months long over a virtual collaboration/telework environment. How is this program “immersive”? ICAP fellows will experience a combination of working service aligned DIU Projects, curated interactions with commercial/non-traditional companies, and targeted training leveraging relevant OT virtual classroom training combined with on the job experience for real-time knowledge application.

ICAP fellows will experience a combination of working Service-aligned DIU Projects, curated interactions with commercial/non-traditional companies, and targeted training leveraging relevant OT virtual classroom training combined with on the job experience for real-time knowledge application. Note: Your home organization would continue to pay your salary and provide you administrative support.

All other costs (i.e., training, travel, equipment, etc.) related to the fellowship would be funded by DIU. This program is a full-time fellowship that replaces your current workload. If selected your organization will agree to release you to DIU for 12 months.

How do you select participants? DIU will select ICAP fellows based on their resume, supervisor recommendation, and interview from a panel of DIU acquisition leaders. DIU is a fast-moving DoW organization that contracts with commercial companies to solve national security problems.

DIU is the only DoW organization focused exclusively on fielding and scaling cutting edge commercial technology across the U.S. military at commercial speeds. We aim to move from problem identification to prototype contract award in 60–90 days whereas the traditional DoW contracting process often takes more than 18 months.

We have solidified DIU’s Commercial Solutions Opening process and want to propagate the technical information and DIU culture across the DoW. Will I get a certificate at the end? Can I use this for continuous learning points (CLPs)?

Fellows successfully completing ICAP will receive a certificate from DIU and the experiential education and training can be applied towards continuous learning points (CLPs). Please refer to Policy and Guidance for further details. I recently applied to the ICAP program.

When will I know if I have been accepted? And how will I find out? All applicants will be notified in September 2025 if they have been selected for the program.

Is this opportunity designed ONLY for Contracting Offers? Or Contract Specialists can apply as well? The program is targeted toward contracting officers, but contract specialists can apply.