Any idea what the compensation is like? Would the "tour of duty" be considered a sacrifice or is it a viable way to make a living for a talented engineer?
We are brought in either under Intermittent Consultants or Schedule A hires. This means that in exchange for being able to hire you by name rather than going through a more structured process through USAjobs.gov, you can only work for 2 years. Therefore, no matter what the pay, it's probably not a viable long term career.
It's also important to note that this is probably a good thing - I've been at Healthcare.gov and USDS since Jan of 2014 and I'm finding that I'm getting adjusted to some of the bureaucracy. It's therefore actually key to balance experience with fresh perspectives.
I'd also say that the salary ranges - it's in part based on what you used to make in the private sector but has a hard ceiling. For everyone who comes, it's more than enough to survive but not a long term career move for anyone. And of course, there are no stock options or equity stakes :D.
[0] There are some slight differences in how pay, retirement, and some other benefits are distributed, so they are mostly but not entirely interchangeable.
Overall, it doesn't sound like you get strung out to dry in any particular way. Seems like it's mostly a "sacrifice" in the sense of putting your ordinary professional opportunities on pause for a little bit- although if the program becomes highly reputable, it could actually be good for you professionally.
I had never lived in DC before joining USDS, but soon added a new favorite city to my list! I definitely never felt strung out to dry either.
(From va.gov/ds/, where I work, I believe this is the same for all the other Digital Service teams though)
The top tech talent that we aim to attract to USDS often can make far more than these salaries staying in the private sector, so appealing to a sense of civic duty and offering short-term engagements is what we have to do to recruit.
Which is why everybody loves getting a letter asking them to turn up for jury duty, right?!
* You don't have to spend a full day in a courthouse doing nothing during the selection process
* The government guarantees you will continue receiving your normal income during the trial
$116k/yr for your entire mid/late career would also suck (compared to 200-400k in industry), but for <2 years, I can't see that alone being a huge issue, unless you have kids in college, are paying for a mortgage elsewhere, etc.