AI/ML Platform Engineer

4A Consulting, LLC; Linthicum (MD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Flexible work options

Mentorship program

Learning opportunities

Work-life balance

Job summary

4A Consulting, LLC is seeking an AI/ML Platform Engineer to develop and optimize the state AI/ML platform across agencies and commercial clients. You will build ML pipelines, deploy models, and ensure reliability using industry-standard tools and cloud services.

You will collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and stakeholders to deliver scalable, production-ready solutions while focusing on cost efficiency, observability, and developer enablement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years in software/data/ML engineering with 2+ years production ML experience.
• Strong Python production-grade coding and ML fundamentals.
• Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, and at least one ML orchestration tool (Airflow, Kubeflow, Prefect).

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain automated ML pipelines for data preprocessing, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Prototype, implement, and optimize ML algorithms and integrate models into production systems.
• Implement logging, metrics, dashboards, and alerts to monitor pipeline health and model performance.
• Monitor cloud costs; optimize via autoscaling, spot/preemptible instances, and budgeting controls.
• Maintain internal SDKs and self-service tools; enable platform users and conduct sessions.
• Collaborate across teams to translate business requirements into scalable ML solutions.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

Airflow

Kubeflow Pipelines

Prefect

AWS

Azure

GCP

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Jenkins

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Engineering

Master's degree preferred

PhD optional

Tools

Docker

Terraform

Ansible

Jenkins

Job description

At 4A Consulting, we turn complexity into opportunity. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Baltimore, MD, we are a women-owned, boutique consulting firm specializing in delivering innovative, data-driven solutions to both the Federal Government and Fortune 500 clients. Our team blends deep industry knowledge with advanced technologies to design tailored strategies that drive measurable and sustainable outcomes. We pride ourselves on an agile, collaborative approach that helps organizations navigate challenges and seize emerging opportunities in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. At 4A, we don’t just deliver projects, we build trusted partnerships that empower our clients to lead with confidence in the digital age.

Position Overview

The AI/ML Platform Engineer will develop, maintain, and optimize the infrastructure, tools, and automated workflows supporting the state\'s shared enterprise AI/ML platform. The role focuses on ML pipeline automation, CI/CD, model deployment, monitoring, cloud cost optimization, and developer enablement. The engineer will collaborate with data scientists, data engineers, software developers, agency stakeholders, and external partners to deliver reliable, scalable, and production-ready AI/ML solutions across state agencies.

Key Responsibilities

• ML Pipeline Automation and CI/CD: Build and maintain automated ML pipelines for data preprocessing, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and deployment. Implement automated testing, pipeline validation, staged deployment, and failure recovery using Apache Airflow, Kubeflow Pipelines, Prefect, or equivalent tools.
• Model Development and Deployment: Prototype, implement, and optimize ML algorithms and integrate models into production systems. Apply appropriate supervised and unsupervised learning, deep learning, NLP, computer vision, and Generative AI techniques based on business requirements.
• Monitoring and Reliability: Implement logging, metrics, dashboards, and alerts to monitor pipeline health, model performance, data drift, model degradation, and infrastructure utilization. Participate in production support, incident response, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis.
• Cloud Cost Optimization: Monitor compute, storage, and data-transfer costs. Optimize resource utilization through autoscaling, spot or preemptible instances, and workload scheduling. Contribute to infrastructure-as-code configurations, resource tagging, and budget controls.
• Developer Experience: Maintain internal SDKs, self-service tools, onboarding documentation, and reusable templates. Support platform users, troubleshoot issues, resolve bugs, and conduct technical enablement sessions for agency teams.
• Collaboration and Continuous Improvement: Translate business requirements into technical solutions, collaborate across multidisciplinary teams, evaluate emerging ML technologies, and improve platform reliability, scalability, usability, and operational efficiency.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field. A master's degree or PhD is preferred but not required.
• At least five (5) years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or ML engineering, including at least two (2) years working with production ML systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience developing maintainable, production-quality code.
• Solid understanding of ML and deep learning fundamentals, including model training, evaluation, feature engineering, versioning, and deployment.
• Experience with ML frameworks and libraries such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or scikit-learn, and with at least one ML orchestration tool: Apache Airflow, Kubeflow Pipelines, or Prefect.
• Familiarity with AWS, Azure, or GCP and managed AI/ML services.
• Experience with Docker, basic Kubernetes operations, and CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins.
• Experience building, deploying, monitoring, or troubleshooting ML pipelines and production workflows.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, debugging, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with monitoring and observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog.
• Familiarity with experiment tracking and model management tools such as MLflow or Weights & Biases.
• Experience with infrastructure as code and configuration management using Terraform or Ansible.
• Familiarity with feature stores such as Feast or Tecton.
• Experience with internal developer tools, SDKs, and self-service platform capabilities.
• Knowledge of NLP, computer vision, speech processing, reinforcement learning, or Generative AI.
• Experience in government, regulated, or large enterprise environments.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to operational reliability.
• Ability to independently troubleshoot complex pipelines and distributed systems.
• Clear technical documentation and incident reporting skills.
• Collaborative approach to working with engineers, data scientists, and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Continuous improvement mindset focused on reducing operational issues, deployment delays, and unnecessary cloud costs.

Why Join 4A

• Be part of a mission-driven, women-owned consulting firm with a reputation for excellence.
• Work on high-impact projects across federal and commercial clients.
• Collaborate in an inclusive, growth-oriented culture where innovation is valued.
• Access career development programs, mentorship, and learning opportunities.
• Enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, flexible work options, and a focus on work-life balance.

Equal Opportunity Statement

4A Consulting is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to an inclusive hiring process. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation due to a disability may contact [e-mail]. This email is intended solely for accommodation requests.

Please note that 4A Consulting participates in the federal E-Verify program. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the US. 4A Consulting will only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9.