BLUF: The Department of Defense authorized qualifying Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories to create senior "SBTM" positions ranked above GS-15, effective September 28, 2026.

A notice published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2026 allows Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories (STRLs) that already operate an authorized personnel demonstration project to establish Senior Business Technical Manager (SBTM) positions. These are senior business and technical roles the notice classifies as comparable to positions above the General Schedule (GS)-15 level.

Why it matters: For contractors working alongside DoD's STRLs — the network of service labs and technical centers that run personnel demonstration projects — this creates a new senior civilian tier sitting directly under each lab's Commanding Officer or Senior Executive Service leadership. SBTMs are tasked with overseeing and operationalizing the lab's business, administrative, and technology functions, which means contractors negotiating task orders, CRADAs, or technology-transfer agreements at these labs may increasingly deal with SBTM-level officials as the primary business and technical point of contact.

By the numbers:

• Effective date: September 28, 2026
• Position classification: above GS-15
• Eligible facilities: STRLs with an already-authorized personnel demonstration project
• Document type: Notice, Defense Department

According to the notice, SBTMs act as senior business and operations leaders within the STRL, serving as primary advisors to the lab's Commanding Officers and/or members of the Senior Executive Service. Their oversight spans the STRL's business operations, administration, and technology functions. The authority is limited to STRLs that already have a personnel demonstration project in place — it does not create demonstration-project authority where none exists.

Source: Federal Register