Blacksky

Blacksky

Staff Engineer, AI

Herndon, VA · Staff+ · Full-time

No sponsorshipDetected 19 days ago
PythonAWSKubernetesMachine LearningPyTorchComputer VisionMLOpsStatisticsLeadershipCommunicationRemote Sensing

About the role

  • BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly.
  • The ideal candidate for this role blends deep technical ownership (roadmap, R&D, AI/ML systems) with customer-facing solution delivery (scoping, prototype-to-production, and executive communication).
  • The role will be full-time based out of Herndon, VA working in our SCIF with occasional customer site commitments and will report to the Senior Manager of AI.

Responsibilities

  • Partner with CV and MLOps to design and extend components needed to ensure models are trained, versioned, deployed, monitored, and maintained reliably in customer environments.
  • Collaborate with the Data QA team to define annotation standards, resolve taxonomy issues, and identify data-quality improvements based on model failure modes.
  • Communicate technical strategy, progress, risks, and opportunities clearly to leadership, cross-functional partners, and other stakeholders.

Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/math/statistics or a related quantitative field.
  • Strong proficiency in Python and modern ML/CV libraries such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
  • Hands-on experience with geospatial tools such as GDAL, Rasterio, GeoPandas, Shapely, xarray, or Zarr.
  • Strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences including leadership and technical teams.
  • Must have an active US Top Secret clearance with an SCI.

Nice to have

  • M.S. or Ph.D. in CS/EE/math/statistics or a related quantitative field.
  • At least 2 years of experience designing, building, and operating AI/ML systems in secure, on-prem and/or air-gapped systems.
  • Experience working in DoD, IC, or Fed/Civ environments.
  • Experience designing and executing large-scale CV experiments, including dataset construction, synthetic/augmented data generation, and evaluation protocols tailored to mission needs.
  • Demonstrated experience designing CV/ML systems and pipelines that meet or exceed benchmarks and are optimized for production constraints such as latency and efficiency.
  • Exposure to foundation models, VLMs, and other multimodal approaches for geospatial imagery.
  • 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
  • Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs

Compensation

  • 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more

Benefits

  • BlackSky for full-time US benefits eligible employees includes:
  • Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
  • BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
  • 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Employee Stock Purchase Program

Company info

  • BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company.
  • We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe.
  • BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy.
  • Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.
  • BlackSky is seeking a Staff AI Engineer to lead the architecture, development, and delivery of mission-critical AI solutions within customer environments.
  • This is a hands-on role and an opportunity to develop and shape an exciting new growth area.
  • This senior individual contributor role will partner with CV, MLOps, Data QA, Solutions, and BD teams to ensure BlackSky delivers reliable and actionable insights.
  • Own and architect the mission-aligned roadmap for geospatial CV and applied AI, partnering with customers to translate mission requirements into technical designs and implementing core components.

Equal opportunity

  • https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
  • https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf
  • BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce.
  • EEO/AAP/ Pay Transparency Statements:

Visa & Work Authorization

  • citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U
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This listing is sourced directly from Blacksky's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.