AI Security Specialist

Via Logic LLC; Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a senior AI security professional to join the CBP Cyber Security Directorate, SOC in Ashburn. The role focuses on testing AI implementations, identifying attack surfaces, and guiding enterprise AI solutions within security constraints.

You will work with cross-functional teams to ensure compliant, robust AI systems, maintain documentation, and support system architecture and deployment processes in a dynamic government environment.

Qualifications

• BS degree in information technology, software engineering, or related field with 8–12 years of experience.
• Clearance: Active Secret clearance required and CBP background clearance.
• Strong understanding of generative AI, NLP tasks, and model governance.
• Experience with LLMs, vector databases, and AI deployment workflows.
• Proven leadership, communication, and project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Test capabilities to identify vulnerabilities in AI implementations.
• Identify AI attack surfaces and assist in protective measures.
• Support enterprise architecture for AI solutions.
• Integrate COTS/government tools within established frameworks.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align with enterprise security.
• Manage project timelines and deliverables with quality focus.
• Facilitate communication between technical teams and stakeholders.
• Stay updated on AI/ML trends and best practices.
• Develop and implement model development and deployment best practices.
• Ensure cybersecurity policy compliance throughout lifecycle.

Skills

Generative AI

NLP tasks

LLMs

Prompt engineering

Vector databases

Containerization

Leadership

Project management

Security clearance

Communication

Cloud environments

Education

BS in IT/Software Engineering or related field

Master’s degree in IT Management/Engineering

Tools

Python

R

Java

GPU-accelerated environments

Kubernetes

Job description

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Cyber Security Directorate (CSD) Security Operations Center (SOC) is a US Government program responsible to prevent, identify, contain and eradicate cyber threats to CBP networks through monitoring, intrusion detection and protective security services to CBP information systems including local area networks/wide area networks (LAN/WAN), commercial Internet connection, public facing websites, wireless, mobile/cellular, cloud, security devices, servers and workstations. The CBP SOC is responsible for the overall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed security violations.

Primary Responsibilities

• Testing capabilities to determine what vulnerabilities exist in various AI implementations.
• Identify areas vulnerable to attacks leveraging AI capabilities and provide assistance in identifying and implementing solutions to protect from AI assisted attacks.
• Support enterprise system architecture activities to define and scope various AI solutions.
• Identify and integrate appropriate COTS, government, and custom tools within established frameworks.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture and security requirements.
• Manage project timelines and deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards.
• Facilitate communication between technical teams and stakeholders to align project goals.
• Stay updated on industry trends and advancements in AI/ML technologies.
• Develop and implement best practices for model development and deployment.
• Ensure compliance with cybersecurity policies and standards throughout the project lifecycle.

Basic Qualifications

• BS degree in Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field and a minimum of 8-12 years of prior relevant experience
• Additional experience or applicable certifications acceptable in lieu of degree.
• Solid understanding and hands‑on experience with generative AI models including prompt engineering, chain‑of‑thought reasoning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks such as entity extraction, summarization, and semantic search.
• Working knowledge of Large Language Models (LLMs) and agent frameworks
• Experience using various vector databases
• Familiarity with deployment processes of virtualized and containerized environments
• Organized and detail‑oriented
• Strong leadership skills
• Ability to manage and prioritize own work
• Active Secret Clearance required
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a CBP -BI background clearance.
• Must be able to report to the Ashburn VA office up to 5 days per week.
• Experience with data pipeline construction and management

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in IT Management, Engineering, or related field
• Experience designing enterprise AI governance, model risk management, and bias mitigation frameworks.
• Experience integrating AI/ML workloads with GPU-accelerated environments and performance optimization strategies.
• Experience supporting enterprise data, analytics, and AI platform modernization initiatives.
• Advanced cloud architecture certification (e.g., AWS Solutions Architect - Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Professional Cloud Architect).
• Proven experience in designing and deploying AI/ML models in production environments.
• Strong programming skills in languages such as Python, R, or Java.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.