AI Systems Engineer

Peregrine Advisors; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with vesting

Unlimited paid time off

Sponsored certifications

Job summary

Peregrine Advisors in the Washington, DC metropolitan area is seeking a backend engineer to build secure REST APIs in Python and FastAPI on AWS, turning manual, document-heavy federal workflows into fast, automated services.

You will work with PostgreSQL, authentication controls, and automated delivery, operating in a regulated government environment with emphasis on security and auditability.

Qualifications

• Strong Python and hands-on experience building secure REST APIs (FastAPI or similar) on AWS.
• The backend fundamentals behind them: PostgreSQL, authentication and access control, and clean, automated delivery.
• The judgment to build in a regulated federal environment where security and auditability are not optional.

Responsibilities

• Backend services and REST APIs in Python and FastAPI that turn a manual, document-heavy process into something fast, secure, and automated.
• The cloud behind them on Amazon Web Services (AWS): Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, and S3, with PostgreSQL for the data and identity handled the right way.
• In time, the firm itself: new capabilities, tools, and lines of business you help spin up.

Skills

Python

FastAPI

REST APIs

AWS

PostgreSQL

Authentication

Security

Tools

AWS Lambda

API Gateway

S3

Job description

Peregrine Advisors is a firm founded on a simple conviction: the best solutions come from the people closest to the problem, given real ownership and the tools to deliver. We are a data and technology innovation hub and a Benefit Corporation working at the center of the federal government's mission to deliver for client stakeholders and the US public, looking for highly motivated contributors who thrive when trusted to own a hard problem and equipped to deliver the solution.

Your first assignment

Your first assignment is to build the backend that powers how a federal agency processes its filer applications: the services and secure application programming interfaces (APIs) that move each submission through document processing, validation, and decisioning. The work is real, hard, and it matters. It is also where you start, not the shape of your career here: we hire people, not seats, and we move our best to where the hardest problems are.

What you'll build

• Backend services and REST APIs in Python and FastAPI that turn a manual, document-heavy process into something fast, secure, and automated.
• The cloud behind them on Amazon Web Services (AWS): Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, and S3, with PostgreSQL for the data and identity handled the right way.
• In time, the firm itself: new capabilities, tools, and lines of business you help spin up.

Who you are

You have a hacker's mindset: you would rather ship a working prototype tonight than a perfect plan next week. You have built backends and APIs that hold up in production, and you move at the speed of the tools, not the clock. You experiment, fail, learn, and repeat, quickly. You would rather own an outcome than be handed a task.

What you bring

• Strong Python and hands-on experience building secure REST APIs (FastAPI or similar) on AWS.
• The backend fundamentals behind them: PostgreSQL, authentication and access control, and clean, automated delivery.
• The judgment to build in a regulated federal environment where security and auditability are not optional.

What you'll need

U.S. citizenship (this initial engagement may be staffed by U.S. citizens only) and the ability to obtain a Public Trust determination. This is a hybrid role based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and it requires commuting into DC regularly. Everything else, the years, the certifications, the specific tools, we ask in the application and get into during the interview.

What we offer

Fully paid medical, dental, and vision; a matched 401(k) with immediate vesting; unlimited paid time off; and sponsored certifications. Beyond that, work worth your best years.

What we commit to

As a Benefit Corporation, our commitment runs three ways: real, measurable value for our clients; government that works better for the public; and a team that makes everyone in it better.

We hire people who want to help build the firm, not just work at it. If that is you, apply.

Peregrine Advisors is an equal opportunity employer.