Overview
Our client is seeking an experienced engineering leader to drive the design, development, and deployment of advanced AI and machine learning solutions supporting complex, mission-focused programs.
This individual will provide technical leadership across the full AI/ML lifecycle while partnering with engineering, product, data, and customer stakeholders to build scalable, secure, and production-ready systems.
Location: Hybrid in the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC metro area
Compensation: $225,000–$250,000
Clearance: Active Secret Clearance required
Responsibilities
- Lead the architecture and delivery of enterprise AI and machine learning solutions.
- Design scalable machine learning pipelines from data preparation through production deployment.
- Guide the development and operationalization of modern AI capabilities, including generative AI and intelligent automation.
- Collaborate with software, infrastructure, and platform engineering teams to deploy secure, cloud-based solutions.
- Establish technical standards, engineering best practices, and architectural direction across AI initiatives.
- Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership across multiple development teams.
- Partner directly with customers and stakeholders to translate operational requirements into technical solutions.
- Improve system reliability, scalability, performance, and observability across production environments.
- Contribute to long-term technology strategy and AI roadmap planning.
- Support research, evaluation, and adoption of emerging artificial intelligence technologies.
Qualifications
- Master's degree or higher in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline preferred.
- 8+ years of experience in software engineering, machine learning, or artificial intelligence.
- Experience building and deploying production machine learning solutions.
- Strong programming skills in Python and experience with modern ML frameworks.
- Experience designing APIs, distributed applications, and cloud-native software.
- Familiarity with Kubernetes, containerization, CI/CD, and modern software delivery practices.
- Strong communication skills with experience leading cross-functional engineering initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor technical teams and influence engineering direction.
Preferred Experience
- Experience with large language models, retrieval-augmented AI, or intelligent automation platforms.
- Knowledge of MLOps, model lifecycle management, and production monitoring.
- Experience developing secure AI solutions within regulated or government environments.
- Familiarity with streaming data architectures and distributed systems.
- Contributions to open-source software, technical publications, or research initiatives are a plus.
Security Requirements
- Active Secret security clearance required.
- Ability to obtain additional clearance if required by future program needs.
What You'll Find
- Opportunity to lead high-impact AI initiatives.
- Collaborative engineering culture with significant technical ownership.
- Challenging, mission-focused work utilizing modern technologies.
- Competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, retirement plan, generous paid time off, and professional development support.