AI/ML Engineer

FTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc.; New Orleans (LA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Frontier Technology Inc. seeks a hands-on AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and deploy end-to-end machine learning solutions for defense and national security missions.

You will execute in code, create pipelines, and validate models in production environments, collaborating with data engineers and analysts to align with customer needs. You will work with PyTorch, TensorFlow, and LangChain, implement MLOps (MLflow/Kubeflow/DVC), and optimize vector databases for fast retrieval.

Qualifications

• 6–10 years of professional AI/ML production experience.
• 3+ years in DoD/DoW AI assurance, security, and deployment environments.
• Strong Python development skills with hands-on AI/ML implementation.
• Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Hugging Face, or LangChain.
• Proven ability to build/deploy MLOps pipelines (MLflow, Kubeflow, DVC).
• Experience with vector databases and retrieval architectures.
• Experience fine-tuning/evaluating LLMs using LoRA/QLoRA/PEFT.
• Experience integrating AI into production systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI/ML models and pipelines for mission objectives.
• Build, train, and fine-tune models using PyTorch, TensorFlow, and related tools.
• Develop MLOps pipelines (MLflow, Kubeflow, DVC).
• Implement vector databases and retrieval architectures (Milvus, Pinecone, FAISS).
• Write clean Python for data ingestion, embeddings, and inference services.
• Experiment with LLM tuning using LoRA/QLoRA/PEFT.
• Contribute to agent-based applications and AI services in production.
• Collaborate with data engineers and mission analysts to ensure readiness.

Skills

Python development

PyTorch

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

LoRA/QLoRA/PEFT

LLM fine-tuning

MLOps

LangChain

embeddings

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in CS/Engineering/Data Science

Tools

MLflow

Kubeflow

DVC

Milvus

Pinecone

Chroma

FAISS

Job description

Overview

Frontier Technology Inc. (FTI) is seeking a hands-on AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and deploy advanced machine learning solutions supporting defense and national security missions. This role focuses on execution in oversight, ideal for an engineer who thrives in the code, enjoys building end-to-end pipelines, and takes pride in seeing their work directly impact operational systems.

FTI delivers mission-focused solutions to the Department of Defense/Department of War (DoD/DoW) and Intelligence Community (IC) through advanced engineering, digital transformation, and program execution expertise. We help our customers solve complex challenges and achieve mission success by integrating people, process, and technology.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI/ML models and pipelines that meet mission and performance objectives.
• Build, train, and fine-tune models using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Hugging Face, and LangChain.
• Develop and operationalize MLOps pipelines (MLflow, Kubeflow, DVC, or custom training/inference orchestration).
• Implement and optimize vector databases (Milvus, Pinecone, Chroma, FAISS) and retrieval architectures (RAG, graph, hybrid).
• Write clean, efficient Python code for data ingestion, feature engineering, embeddings, and inference services.
• Experiment with fine-tuning and optimization of LLMs and task-specific models (LoRA, QLoRA, PEFT).
• Contribute to agent-based applications using frameworks like LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, or DSPy.
• Integrate AI services into real-world systems via APIs, event-driven workflows, or UI copilots.
• Collaborate with data engineers, software developers, and mission analysts to ensure AI models are production-ready and aligned with customer needs.
• Participate in peer reviews, contribute to shared repositories, and document models and experiments for reproducibility.

Education/Qualifications

Minimum Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. citizen and be willing to obtain and maintain a secruity clearance, as needed.
• 6-10 years of professional experience developing and deploying AI/ML solutions in production environments.
• Minimum of 3 years’ professional experience within the Department of Defense/Department of War (DoD/DoW) AI assurance, security, and deployment environments.
• Strong Python development skills with hands-on experience building AI/ML solutions.
• Direct experience with ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Hugging Face, or LangChain.
• Proven ability to build and deploy MLOps pipelines using MLflow, Kubeflow, DVC, or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of vector databases (Milvus, Pinecone, Chroma, FAISS) and retrieval-based architectures (RAG, hybrid, graph).
• Professional experience fine-tuning and evaluating LLMs or smaller task‑specific models using LoRA, QLoRA, or PEFT.
• Professional experience integrating AI capabilities into production systems or mission applications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with agentic frameworks (LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, DSPy) and multi‑agent reasoning.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, retrieval quality, and grounding methods.
• Exposure to GPU‑based or edge inference environments.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field.
• Active Secret clearance preferred; ability to obtain one is required.

For this role, the compensation range is $140k-$220k.

• Note: Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with the candidate’s residence location, qualifications & experience.