AI Engineer - SETA

Saic; Columbia (MD); On-site; USD 240,001 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

SAIC seeks an AI Engineer - SETA in Columbia, MD to provide technical advisory support for the design, evaluation, and advancement of AI-enabled applications and workflows.

The role is hands-on, focusing on LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation, agentic systems, and orchestration frameworks, guiding development teams and government stakeholders while maintaining security and operational relevance.

Target salary range: $240,001 - $280,000 per year.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Working knowledge of agentic or orchestration frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, CrewAI, Haystack, LlamaIndex, or similar ecosystems.
• Experience with software development fundamentals, APIs, data handling, and system integration; ability to communicate tradeoffs clearly to engineers and government stakeholders.
• TS/SCI with Poly required.

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 usage, 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 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 keep AI efforts technically grounded and operationally relevant.
• Stay current on rapid AI ecosystem changes and provide informed recommendations on emerging tools and practices.

Skills

AI/ML development

Agentic frameworks

APIs

Python

JavaScript/TypeScript

TS/SCI clearance

Security requirements

Education

Bachelor's degree + 18+ yrs experience

Master's degree + 16+ yrs experience

PhD/JD + 15+ yrs experience

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

Semantic Kernel

AutoGen

CrewAI

Haystack

LlamaIndex

Job description

Description

Varen, an SAIC Company is seeking an AI Engineer - SETA to join our team. This position is located in Columbia, MD and requires a TS/SCI with polygraph.

The AI Engineer - SETA wil provide technical advisory 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 guide teams developing 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.

Key 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 usage, 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.

Qualifications

• Bachelors and eighteen (18) years or more experience; Masters and sixteen (16) years or more experience; PhD or JD and fifteen years or more experience.
• 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.
• Working knowledge of one or more agentic or orchestration frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, CrewAI, Haystack, LlamaIndex, or similar ecosystems.
• 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.
• TS/SCI with Poly required.

Desired, but not 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.

Target salary range: $240,001 - $280,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.