AI Engineer

Aptima Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 115,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Aptima Inc. in the Dayton area seeks an AI/ML researcher to design, develop, and apply advanced AI models solving mission-critical problems for DoD customers. This role includes fine-tuning large language models, CV, and multimodal integration using Python-based frameworks.

You will work with PyTorch, TensorFlow, and LangChain in an Agile environment, collaborating with researchers to deliver production-ready solutions and contribute to technical reports and publications.

Qualifications

• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Security Clearance.
• 3-5 years of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated technical and leadership ability to meet requirements.
• General understanding of multiple technical domains integrated with Aptima's domains.
• Ability to apply engineering skills to plans and products of high quality and timeliness.
• Moderate proficiency in ML/AI workflows, including Python, Java, and C#; production-ready packages.
• Foundational ML concepts with NLP/LLMs or CV as a plus.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to design and development of AI and software systems that classify and measure human states using multimodal sensor approaches.
• Contribute to data mining, statistical analysis, ML, computational modeling, and digital signal processing methods.
• Collaborate with software engineers in an agile environment to implement, test, and apply algorithms.
• Design and implement the scientific and technical aspects of projects and proposals.
• Lead execution of technical tasks under projects and proposals with timely, high-quality results.
• Produce Aptima technical reports, proposals, presentations, and papers.
• Support senior staff through proposals, capabilities briefs, and customer meetings.
• Pursue ongoing professional development related to project needs and technical areas.
• Present work at conferences or in publications.

Skills

Python

Java

C#

OO design

Tools

LangChain

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Job Type

Full-time

Description

Who We Are

Aptima is a technological leader in the national security industry. Our mission is to drive the future of national security by engineering scalable solutions that fuse technological innovation with human potential to transform how individuals and teams train, develop, and perform in mission-critical environments.

Our culture is rooted in our core values, which have evolved over time and our employees have embraced: Integrity, Ingenuity, Excellence, Respect, Engagement, Teamwork. At our core, Aptima researches, develops, and innovates within an area that engineering firms largely ignore, the human component. To impact the world in meaningful ways, you must bring those innovations to light, and that is precisely what we do.

How You'll Make an Impact

Operating in the Dayton area and collaborating closely with DoD research customers, you will design, develop, and apply advanced AI and machine learning models to solve complex, mission-critical problems. Whether fine-tuning large language models, building computer vision systems, or integrating multi-modal AI solutions, your work will directly support military readiness and innovation.

You will work hands-on with real-world datasets, implement and optimize models in Python using tools such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and LangChain, and collaborate with fellow AI researchers to deliver high-quality, production-ready solutions. By combining technical expertise with creative problem solving, you will help drive the next generation of AI capabilities for defense applications.

Key Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the design and development of artificial intelligence (AI) and software systems that classify and measure human states using multimodal sensor approaches
• Contribute to the design, development and application of data mining, statistical analysis, machine learning, computational modeling and digital signal processing methods
• Collaborate with software engineers, within an agile development environment, to implement, test, and apply mathematical algorithms from research
• Successfully design and implement the scientific and technical aspects of projects and proposals.
• Lead in the execution of technical tasks under projects and proposals, resulting in work that is timely and of high quality
• Contribute to the production of Aptima technical reports, proposals, presentations, and published papers
• Support more senior staff through the application of technical knowledge by contributing to proposals, participating in capabilities briefs, preparing software or meeting materials, integrating/installing software, meeting with customers, etc.
• Continue education in own professional domain (conferences, reading). Take initiative to do background reading and/or other forms of professional development related to project needs and technical areas
• Present work at professional conferences and/or in professional publications

Requirements

• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Security Clearance
• Minimum of 3-5 years of relevant work experience
• Demonstrated technical and leadership ability to take on this level of requirements
• Possesses general understanding of multiple technical domains relevant to Aptima, with a primary focus on a specialty that is integrated with other domains at Aptima
• Ability to competently apply engineering technical skills, principles, and heuristics to plans and products that are of high quality, responsive to customer needs, contractually compliant, and delivered in a timely manner
• Moderate proficiency in software development practices relevant to ML/AI workflows, including object-oriented programming (e.g., Python, Java, C#), modular code design, and transitioning from exploratory notebooks to maintainable, production-ready packages. Skills will be assessed during interview process.
• Foundational understanding of machine learning techniques (e.g., deep learning, feature extraction, and embedding application) and experience building computational models from large datasets. Experience with natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), agentic workflows, or computer vision (CV) is a plus.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.

Salary Description

$115,000 - $130,000