AI Engineer SME

AnaVation; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Disability insurance

Vision insurance

401k with match

Paid leave

Tuition reimbursement

Life insurance

Job summary

AnaVation in Chantilly, VA is seeking a highly skilled AI Engineer to lead research, design, and deployment of specialized operational and analytic cyber capabilities for real-world missions. The role demands TS clearance and SCI eligibility, and is on-site in Chantilly.

You will build scalable AI/ML/GenAI models, pipelines, and microservices using PyTorch, TensorFlow, and scikit-learn, deploy via MLOps, and ensure governance, documentation, and secure posture.

Qualifications

• Active TS clearance with SCI eligibility and CI polygraph.
• Advanced degree and 10 years in AI/ML engineering.
• Hands-on production AI/GenAI and LLM deployment experience.
• Proficiency with PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn and cloud platforms.
• Experience NLP, CV, RL, and multimodal AI capabilities.
• Experience with retrieval workflows, provenance, and traceable results.
• Data architecture integrating vector/graph/relational DBs and ETL.
• ABAC data-layer and data lineage tracking experience.
• Ability to work in air-gapped/hybrid/on-prem environments.
• Full-stack development with TS, React, Python, FastAPI, Docker, Kubernetes.
• Experience delivering in agile environments.
• On-site Chantilly, VA with TS clearance.

Responsibilities

• Build scalable, production-ready AI/ML/GenAI models, pipelines, and microservices.
• Develop training, evaluation, and inference pipelines in Python using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or scikit-learn.
• Deploy and manage models with MLOps, CI/CD, containerization, and monitoring frameworks.
• Implement vector databases, embeddings, LLM apps, agentic AI, and tool calling workflows.
• Optimize models for accuracy, latency, cost, and scalability across distributed environments.
• Ensure AI governance, documentation, ethical compliance, and secure posture alignment.
• Provide technical mentorship and drive cross-team engineering standardization.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

PyTorch

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

MLOps

AWS

Azure

GCP

CI/CD

NLP

LLM

Vector databases

ABAC

Data lineage

Governance

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree (AI/ML)

Tools

MLflow

Azure ML

Vertex AI

LanceDB

Lance Graph

Docker

Kubernetes

Temporal.io

PostgreSQL

Job description

Be Challenged and Make a Difference

In a world of technology, people make the difference. We believe if we invest in great people, then great things will happen. At AnaVation, we provide unmatched value to our customers and employees through innovative solutions and an engaging culture.

Description of Task to be Performed

AnaVation is seeking a highly skilled AI Engineer to join our high-performing team and lead the research, design,development, and execution of specialized operational and analytic cyber capabilities in support of real-world missions.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Build scalable, production-ready AI/ML/GenAI models, pipelines, and microservices.
• Develop training, evaluation, and inference pipelines in Python using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or scikit learn.
• Deploy and manage models with MLOps, CI/CD, containerization, and monitoring frameworks.
• Implement vector databases, embeddings, LLM applications, agentic AI, and tool calling workflows.
• Optimize models for accuracy, latency, cost, and scalability across distributed environments.
• Ensure AI governance, documentation, ethical compliance, and secure posture alignment.
• Provide technical mentorship and drive cross-team engineering standardization.

This position requires an active Top Secret (TS) clearance and the ability to obtain SCI access with a CIpolygraph. This position is on-site in Chantilly, VA.

Required Qualifications

• Active Top Secret (TS) clearance with eligibility for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and ability to obtain a Counterintelligence (CI) Polygraph.
• Bachelor's degree or master's degree with 10 years of experience specializing in AI/ML engineering
• Hands-on experience deploying production AI/GenAI and LLM systems, including embeddings, multi-model and multimodal orchestration, reasoning, memory, and tool execution.
• Proficiency with PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), with practical MLOps experience using MLflow, Azure ML, or Vertex AI.
• Experience implementing NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, temporal, spatial, geographic, or quantitative AI capabilities, including named entity recognition, contextual entity extraction, and entity resolution.
• Experience developing multi-step retrieval and structured output workflows with source citations, provenance, and traceable analytic results.
• Expertise in data architecture integrating vector, graph, and relational databases, including automated ETL pipeline development, scheduling, optimization, complex parsing, and schema-aligned ingestion and normalization of structured and unstructured data.
• Experience implementing data-layer Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) and end-to-end data lineage tracking.
• Experience supporting air-gapped, hybrid, and on-premises environments, including locally hosted GPU servers, hyperconverged infrastructure, container orchestration, distributed systems, and multitenant Cross-Domain Solutions (CDS).
• Proficiency in full-stack application development and integration using TypeScript, React, Python, FastAPI, LanceDB, Lance Graph, PostgreSQL, Temporal.io, Docker, and Kubernetes to connect user interfaces, backend services, middleware, retrieval systems, databases, and AI/GenAI services.
• Experience delivering and maintaining solutions in agile engineering environments.
• Requires an active Top Secret (TS) clearance and the ability to obtain SCI access with a CI polygraph.
• Requires the ability to work on-site in Chantilly, VA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in federal, defense, or highly regulated environments.
• Knowledge of ethical AI, governance frameworks, and secure development practices.
• Skills in large-scale optimization, GPU acceleration, or distributed training.
• Experience building APIs, microservices, and automated ML workflows.

$95,352.72 - $212,566.06 a year

Please note: The listed salary range reflects our market-based compensation structure. Final compensation will depend on business needs, local market conditions, internal equity, and the selected candidate’s skills, education, and experience.

Benefits

• Generous cost sharing for medical insurance for the employee and dependents
• 100% company paid dental insurance for employees and dependents
• 100% company paid long-term and short-term disability insurance
• 100% company paid vision insurance for employees and dependents
• 401k plan with generous match and 100% immediate vesting
• Competitive Pay
• Generous paid leave and holiday package
• Tuition and training reimbursement
• Life and AD&D Insurance

About AnaVation

AnaVation is the leader in solving the most complex technical challenges for collection and processing in the U.S. Federal Intelligence Community. We are a US owned company headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia. We deliver groundbreaking research with advanced software and systems engineering that provides an information advantage to contribute to the mission and operational success of our customers. We offer complex challenges, a top-notch work environment, and a world-class, collaborative team.

If you want to grow your career and make a difference while doing it, AnaVation is the perfect fit for you!

AnaVation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.