Lead AI Engineer

Job Description

Requirements
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### Must have:

### - We require 7+ years of software or ML engineering experience, including 3+ years building production AI/ML systems. - We need deep, hands-on experience with LLM APIs, vector databases, embedding pipelines, and retrieval architectures. - We expect strong proficiency in Python and a solid understanding of AI/LLM best practices; JavaScript or TypeScript is a plus. - We look for practical experience with agentic frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, or similar tools. - We require experience with MLOps practices, including experiment tracking, model versioning, CI/CD for ML, monitoring, and observability. - We value working knowledge of responsible AI, including bias detection, explainability, audit trails, and algorithmic impact assessments. - We prefer familiarity with privacy-preserving methods such as federated learning and differential privacy in regulated environments. - We need a proven ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives and prioritize effectively in fast-moving settings. - We expect strong communication skills, with the ability to translate AI concepts for engineers, executives, and federal clients. - We require a bachelors degree; an advanced degree is preferred. - We prefer candidates local to Maryland, with remote flexibility available. - Federal contracting, government IT, or public sector implementation experience is a strong advantage. - An active security clearance, or the ability to obtain one, is a plus; TS/SCI is highly valued. - Experience with NLP, computer vision, or generative AI in regulated industries such as healthcare, defense, or finance is beneficial. - Familiarity with federal AI policy frameworks such as NIST AI RMF, OMB AI guidance, and Executive Orders on AI is preferred. - Founding engineer or startup experience is a plus. - Contributions to open-source AI projects or published applied research are a bonus.

Responsibilities:
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- We embed deeply with federal agency clients as their technical AI lead, guiding work from ideation through prototype, production, and scale. - We partner with senior stakeholders to identify high-value GenAI opportunities and build a prioritized AI backlog aligned to their roadmap. - We design, build, and deploy production-ready LLM, RAG, and agentic AI systems using tools such as LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, and OpenAI or Anthropic APIs. - We create multi-step autonomous task execution architectures and secure multi-agent workflows for federal mission use cases. - We define AI architecture standards, reference architectures, and architecture decision records aligned with federal frameworks such as NIST AI RMF and FedRAMP. - We lead AI risk reviews and algorithmic impact assessments, addressing bias, privacy harms, and unintended outcomes. - We apply privacy-preserving AI techniques, including federated learning and differential privacy, when mission needs require them. - We build evaluation harnesses, observability tooling, model cards, system cards, and AI use-case inventories. - We ensure our AI systems support data lineage, model versioning, audit logging, and reproducibility for federal compliance. - We integrate privacy-by-design and security-by-design throughout the AI development lifecycle. - We provide high-signal feedback to iAdeptive leadership on model capabilities and platform gaps. - We mentor engineers on AI tooling, prompt engineering, and responsible deployment while documenting best practices and reusable assets. - We ship code every week and own problems end-to-end, including filling any knowledge gaps needed to deliver results.
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Company:
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We are iAdeptive, a federal technology company building AI systems at the intersection of mission impact and engineering excellence. This is a full-time role with remote flexibility, though we prefer candidates local to Maryland. The position is hybrid remote in Columbia, MD 21046, and offers a starting salary from $140,000 per year. We provide benefits including 401(k) matching, dental, health, life, and vision insurance, paid time off, and professional development assistance. We offer the autonomy of a founding engineer within the stability of the federal contracting market, working on hard problems with real data and meaningful stakes.
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