Senior AI/ML Engineer
Columbia, MD
JOB DESCRIPTIONX8 is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to support the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) AI Enterprise capability. Help mission teams transition AI prototypes into secure, governed, enterprise-scale services by engineering production-ready models, agents, and workflows.
This role combines advanced Python development, LLM/agent orchestration, model evaluation, and enterprise integration to deliver measurable mission impact in a fast-paced cyber operations environment.
WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING- Provide embedded mission support, rapid prototyping, and integration of AI/ML-enabled capabilities.
- Design LLM and agent orchestration workflows using LangGraph, Agno, NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit, or similar frameworks.
- Optimize model gateway routing across frontier and open-weight models for mission fit, performance, and cost.
- Develop RAG pipelines, vector databases, and memory services for mission-grounded agent context.
- Integrate MCP-based tool brokers for secure agent access to enterprise tools and data.
- Build automated model/agent evaluations, benchmarks, monitoring, and performance reporting.
- Partner with data scientists and mission analysts to produce research and prototypes.
- Implement AI governance guardrails, policy enforcement, safety filters, and approval gates.
WHAT REQUIRED SKILLS YOU'LL BRING- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, or related discipline with 10+ years of experience; 4 additional years may substitute for a degree.
- Active TS/SCI clearance with CI polygraph.
- Advanced Python proficiency for AI/ML application development.
- Demonstrated experience building or integrating production LLM/agent-based systems.
- Hands-on experience with RAG, vector databases, and prompt/context engineering.
- Ability to prioritize competing mission requirements and identify/escalate operational risks.
- Experience designing, testing, and integrating software capabilities in secure enterprise environments.
WHAT DESIRED SKILLS YOU'LL BRING
- Master's degree with 8+ years of relevant experience.
- USCYBERCOM, NSA, DoD cyber operations, or related AI mission experience; LangGraph, Agno, NeMo, NVIDIA NIM, vLLM, Ollama, LiteLLM, MCP, AI observability or benchmarking.
WHY JOIN X8?
- Build mission-relevant AI capabilities for USCYBERCOM.
- Help shape a secure enterprise AI platform with high-visibility technical impact.
MINIMUM CLEARANCE REQUIRED- Active TS/SCI with CI polygraph required.
COMPENSATION
- $200,000+ (depending on education and experience)
- Bonus potential
- 401K Match – 10%
- Paid time off – 24 PTO Days, 13 Holidays
- Medical Benefits – 100% Employee, 80% Dependent, $1000 company paid HSA Contribution