Senior Data Scientist – AI Engineer

Role Overview

• Design, build, train, evaluate, and deploy machine learning and generative AI solutions.
• Develop and maintain predictive analytics, NLP, computer vision, and LLM-based applications.
• Implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic workflows, and knowledge management solutions.
• Evaluate commercial, open-source, and custom AI models for mission-specific use cases.
• Deploy and operate local/open-source models in secure environments.
• Configure and optimize inference environments using GPUs and containerized deployments.
• Manage model serving platforms and inference frameworks.
• Implement monitoring, performance tuning, and lifecycle management for locally hosted models.
• Support disconnected, restricted, or air-gapped operational environments.
• Design and deploy AI solutions within Azure Government.
• Build and manage solutions using Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and related services.
• Implement secure model deployment, monitoring, and governance controls.
• Integrate AI services with enterprise systems and data platforms.
• Develop data pipelines supporting AI and analytics workloads.
• Perform data exploration, feature engineering, model evaluation, and performance analysis.
• Work with structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data sources.
• Ensure data quality, lineage, and governance standards are maintained.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines for machine learning and AI workloads.
• Develop automated testing, validation, and deployment processes.
• Establish model monitoring, drift detection, and performance reporting.
• Apply security controls and compliance requirements throughout the AI lifecycle.
• Collaborate with mission owners, analysts, engineers, cybersecurity personnel, and leadership.
• Translate operational requirements into technical AI solutions.
• Prepare technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and presentations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field.
• Master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, AI engineering, or related fields.
• 2+ years of experience deploying and operating production AI/ML systems.
• Experience supporting secure government, defense, or regulated environments preferred.
• Strong knowledge of supervised and unsupervised learning techniques.
• Experience with model development, evaluation, and optimization.
• Statistical analysis and experimental design experience.
• Proficiency in Python and common ML frameworks.
• Experience deploying and operating open-source LLMs.
• Experience with:
• Llama family models
• Mistral models
• Hugging Face models
• Knowledge of:
• RAG architectures
• Agent frameworks
• Prompt engineering
• Model evaluation methodologies
• Fine-tuning approaches
• Experience with:
• Azure AI Foundry
• Azure Machine Learning
• Azure OpenAI
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Azure Storage and Data Services
• Azure Identity and Access Management
• Experience deploying AI workloads in Azure Government environments preferred.
• Experience with:
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• GPU-based inference systems
• vLLM, Ollama, TGI, or similar inference platforms
• Linux administration
• Understanding of model quantization and performance optimization techniques.
• SQL and relational databases
• Data warehousing concepts
• ETL/ELT pipeline development
• Vector databases and semantic search platforms
• Git-based development workflows
• REST APIs and microservices
• CI/CD pipelines
• Infrastructure-as-Code concepts
• Active security clearance or ability to obtain one.
• Experience with NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
• Experience with FedRAMP, RMF, or government cybersecurity compliance frameworks.
• Experience supporting classified or controlled environments.
• Azure certifications.
• Experience with distributed GPU environments.
• Experience implementing AI governance and responsible AI controls.
• Candidates should have experience with several of the following:
• Python
• SQL
• PowerShell
• Bash
• PyTorch
• TensorFlow
• Scikit-learn
• Hugging Face Transformers
• LangChain
• LlamaIndex
• Semantic Kernel
• OpenAI APIs
• Azure OpenAI APIs
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• AKS
• Linux
• GitHub Actions
• Azure DevOps
• PostgreSQL
• SQL Server
• Vector databases
• Azure Data Services

Tech Stack

• Azure
• Cyber Security
• Docker
• ETL
• Kubernetes
• Linux
• Microservices
• Postgres
• Python
• PyTorch
• Scikit-Learn
• SQL
• Tensorflow

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k,)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability