AI ENGINEER

IGNITE; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

IGNITE is looking for a driven AI Engineer to join our team in Huntsville, AL. This role requires expertise in AI/ML application development and a strong technical background. Candidates should have a Master’s degree in a relevant field and at least 12 years of experience, with an active Secret clearance.

You will work on mission-critical projects, advising on AI technologies and integrating solutions that make a real difference for the Army, Air Force, and other agencies. Excellent communication and prototyping skills are essential.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in relevant fields.
• Active Secret clearance required.
• Understanding of AI engineering considerations like latency and system integration.

Responsibilities

• Provide SETA support to government teams developing AI applications.
• Advise on technical approaches for AI application design.
• Evaluate modern AI frameworks for mission use cases.

Skills

AI/ML Application Design

Prototyping

Technical Communication

Software Development

Education

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or Mathematics

Tools

Python

JavaScript/TypeScript

Job description

Job Description

Igniters operate in the world’s most demanding environment. Igniters are self‑motivated, mission‑driven, and relentless in solving the Warfighters’ hardest problems. We move fast, think differently, and execute with precision to tackle high‑stakes challenges across AI/ML, space and missile defense intelligence, EMSO, advanced analytics, and programmatic domains. As an employee‑owned SDVOSB headquartered in Huntsville, AL, our team delivers mission‑critical impact for the Army, Air Force, Space Force, MDA, NASA, IC, and FBI.

Ignite exists to outpace the threat and deliver results that matter in the moments that count.

Ignite is currently seeking a driven, detail‑oriented AI Engineer to join our team! In this role you will get to provide technical support for the design, evaluation, and advancement of AI‑enabled applications, tools, and workflows. This role is intended for a hands‑on technical professional who understands how modern AI systems are built and can help develop practical solutions using large language models, agentic workflows, orchestration frameworks, and supporting software infrastructure. The right candidate is a builder at heart—someone who explores new frameworks, prototypes ideas, and continuously teaches themselves emerging techniques. Curiosity and passion matter greatly in this role. We want someone who follows the fast‑moving AI ecosystem because they genuinely enjoy it, not just because the job requires it.

Responsibilities

• Provide SETA support to government teams developing or assessing AI‑enabled applications and tools.
• Advise on technical approaches for AI application design, prototyping, integration, and evaluation.
• Assess solutions involving LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation, tool use, agentic workflows, orchestration layers, prompt pipelines, and evaluation harnesses.
• Support the review of architectures, development approaches, model usage patterns, and technical risk areas.
• Advise on AI engineering considerations such as latency, reliability, observability, testability, guardrails, data flow, and system integration.
• Evaluate and compare modern AI frameworks, agentic libraries, and experimentation harnesses for suitability in mission use cases.
• Assist with the development of technical guidance, prototypes, engineering recommendations, and briefings for government stakeholders.
• Support test and evaluation activities for AI tools, including performance assessment, qualitative review, and workflow validation.
• Collaborate with platform engineers, product leads, mission users, and government leadership to ensure AI efforts remain technically grounded and operationally relevant.
• Stay current on rapid changes in the AI ecosystem and provide informed recommendations on emerging tools and practices.

Required Qualifications

• Masters degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, or related field and 12+ years of relevant experience
• Active Secret clearance required
• Experience designing, building, integrating, or evaluating AI/ML‑enabled applications or software tools.
• Familiarity with modern AI application patterns, including LLM‑based applications, RAG, prompt engineering, agentic systems, and AI‑assisted workflows.
• Experience with software development fundamentals, APIs, data handling, and system integration.
• Ability to assess technical tradeoffs and communicate them clearly to both engineers and government stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Desired Qualifications

• Ability to obtain a TS SCI clearance required
• Experience with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar languages commonly used in AI application development.
• Familiarity with vector databases, embeddings, model APIs, evaluation frameworks, and agent testing harnesses.
• Exposure to model hosting, inference pipelines, or cloud‑based AI development environments.
• Understanding of secure AI development practices, data protection, and operational constraints in government settings.
• Experience supporting defense, cyber, intelligence, or mission application development.Familiarity with human‑in‑the‑loop workflows, AI assurance, and evaluation methodologies.
• Working knowledge of one or more agentic or orchestration frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, CrewAI, Haystack, LlamaIndex, or similar ecosystems.

Security Clearance Requirements

Must have an active Secret Security Clearance

Education Requirements

• Master’s Degree in STEM Discipline