Raft Company Website
Lead AI/ML Engineer
McLean, VA · Senior
No sponsorship$175k-$225kDetected 14 days ago
TypeScriptPythonFull-Stack DevelopmentGitAWSKubernetesCI/CDKafkaMachine LearningTensorFlowPyTorchscikit-learnLLMsRAGAgentic AIMLOpsCybersecurityPerformance ManagementResearch
About the role
- This role sits at the intersection of advanced AI capabilities and real-world operational impact.
- Translate mission needs into technical solutions while working directly with customers and stakeholders
- Mentor and guide engineers while setting technical direction and best practices for AI/ML development
Responsibilities
- Lead the architecture and development of AI/ML systems integrated into production-grade data platforms
- Design and implement scalable ML pipelines including training, inference, and evaluation in distributed environments
- Drive adoption of modern AI approaches including LLMs, retrieval augmented generation, and agentic workflows
- Design, train, fine-tune, and deploy purpose-built Small Language Models (SLMs) optimized for domain-specific tasks, including quantization, distillation, and optimization techniques that enable low-latency inference in resource-constrained, edge, and air-gapped environments
- Partner with Data Engineers and DevSecOps to operationalize models in secure, containerized environments including Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines
- Own the enterprise-wide AI/ML strategy and multi-year technical roadmap, aligning research, engineering, and product investments with mission outcomes and commercial objectives
- Build, scale, and lead a multi-team AI/ML organization, including hiring, performance management, and developing senior technical leaders across applied research, ML engineering, and MLOps
Requirements
- Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related STEM field
- 8+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, software engineering, or related field
- Experience designing and maintaining ML pipelines and platforms including training, inference, and monitoring
- Proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Scikit-learn
- Track record of setting multi-year technical strategy and delivering AI/ML capabilities that directly drove revenue growth, customer acquisition, or measurable mission impact
- Experience establishing AI governance, model risk management, and responsible AI practices at an enterprise scale
- All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.
- Hybrid role, must be local to NCR and come into Raft HQ in Tysons, VA or Chantilly 2-3 days per week.
Nice to have
- Experience with LLMs, RAG architectures, and agent-based systems
- Experience deploying AI systems in edge, air-gapped, or secure environments
- Familiarity with event-driven and data streaming architectures such as Kafka
- Experience with MLOps tooling and workflows including CI/CD for ML, model versioning, and observability
- Contributions to open-source projects, publications, or a strong GitHub portfolio
- Experience with TypeScript or full-stack integration of AI systems
Skills
- Experience working in cloud-native environments such as AWS, Kubernetes, and containerization
Compensation
- $175,000.00 - $225,000.00
- Highly competitive salary
Benefits
- Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
- Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
Company info
- Raft ( https://TeamRaft.com ) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions.
- We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development.
- With headquarters in McLean, VA, our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem.
- We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.
- What we are looking for:
Visa & Work Authorization
- citizenship to be eligible for employment
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This listing is sourced directly from Raft Company Website's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.