AI Forward Deployed Engineer – Government Fraud Detection

vibehackers; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity 0.5–1%

Top-secret clearance sponsorship

In-office five days a week

Job summary

vibehackers is seeking an AI Forward Deployed Engineer to embed with government customers and build agentic LLM systems that detect fraud and misuse in government spending. You will blend applied AI research with production engineering, delivering end-to-end pipelines and evidence-backed fraud cases.

Based in Washington, DC (onsite five days a week), you will work on defense, homeland security, and health/government teams with top-secret clearance sponsorship where required.

Qualifications

• 1–4 years of production engineering experience owning live systems.
• Strong Python skills and hands-on experience with LLMs and agents.
• Experience with data pipelines and ML infrastructure.
• Strong communication skills for government stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Build agent systems from prototype through production.
• Develop LLM apps using RAG, tool-calling and multi-agent setups.
• Design pipelines to curate data and evaluate models.
• Implement and operate infrastructure for inference and deployment.
• Collaborate with government customers and represent the company.

Skills

Python

LLM & Agents

RAG & Tool-Calling

Multi-Agent Systems

Data Pipelines

ML Infrastructure

Communication

Customer-facing

Security Clearance

Team Collaboration

Job description

AI Forward Deployed Engineer – Government Fraud Detection

Heavy on agentic LLM work and RAG/tool-calling multi-agent setups—direct AI-first, production-facing engineering.

About the Role

Work as a forward deployed engineer applying agentic LLM systems to detect fraud, waste, and abuse in U.S. government spending. Combine applied AI research and production engineering to build RAG, tool-calling and multi-agent pipelines and infra while embedded with government customers.

Job Description

Role

AI Forward Deployed Engineer (Member of Technical Staff) embedding with government customers to develop agentic LLM systems that detect fraud in federal, state, and local government spending. Mix applied AI research with production engineering from prototype to production and deliver evidence-backed fraud cases for auditors.

Key Responsibilities

• Build agent systems for critical government workflows from prototype through production.
• Develop LLM applications using RAG, tool-calling and multi-agent setups with humans in the loop where required.
• Design and maintain pipelines to curate data and evaluate models during training and improvement cycles.
• Implement and operate infrastructure for inference, experiments, evaluation, and deployment.
• Work directly with government customers and represent the company in operational contexts.

Teams / Context

• Defense & Homeland Security team: on-site with defense customers 2–3 times per week; top-secret clearance required and will be sponsored (candidates must be eligible).
• Federal Health and State/Local Government team: no clearance required.

Requirements

• 1–4 years of production engineering experience owning live systems.
• Strong Python skills and hands-on experience with LLMs and agents, including RAG, tool-calling, multi-agent setups, and context handling.
• Experience with data pipelines and ML infrastructure; solid engineering fundamentals.
• Strong communication skills for customer-facing work with government stakeholders.
• Ability to work as a team player with a founder/founding-engineer mindset.
• Based in Washington, DC or able to relocate quickly; in-office five days a week.

Nice-to-haves (Bonus Points)

• Founder or founding engineer experience at a company that grew or was acquired.
• Forward-deployed or federal work at defense-tech or AI companies.
• Applied engineering experience at a leading AI company.
• Current security clearance.
• Experience with healthcare fraud.

Compensation & Equity

• Equity: 0.5–1%.

Location & Process

• Full-time, in-office in Washington, DC, five days a week.
• Defense-facing roles may require and sponsor a top-secret clearance.
• Interview process includes an in-person technical deep-dive.

Python LLMs RAG tool-calling multi-agent setups

Skills

Applied AI Research Production Engineering LLM/Agent Systems Data Pipeline Development ML Infrastructure Communication Customer-facing / Stakeholder Management Security Clearance Eligibility Team Collaboration Founding / Entrepreneurial Mindset Problem Solving

Experience Level

Mid

USD 150,000 - 250,000/year

Employment Type

Full-time

• Base salary $150k–$250k
• Equity 0.5–1%
• Top-secret clearance sponsorship (when required)
• Mission-driven work with real fraud cases