Applied AI Engineer

Parsons; Colorado; On-site; USD 75,000 - 131,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Paid time off

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

401(k)

Life insurance

Flexible work schedules

Holidays

Job summary

Parsons is seeking an Applied AI Engineer in Westminster, CO to build production-grade AI applications that transform real-world data into actionable information. You will work across AI models, computer vision, robotics, geospatial systems, and software engineering to develop scalable Python services and APIs.

You will prototype, evaluate, and productionize new techniques, collaborating with engineers and domain experts to turn challenges into usable software for drones, 3D models, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Robotics, Data Science, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical work experience.
• 2+ years of experience building production-grade software using Python.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including modular design, testing, debugging, and maintainable code.
• Experience developing and integrating machine-learning or computer-vision models into real applications.
• Experience with PyTorch or a comparable ML framework.
• Experience building APIs and backend services; FastAPI or similar Python frameworks preferred.
• Experience working with SQL databases and structured data.
• Familiarity with modern AI techniques such as computer vision foundation models, embeddings, LLMs, or VLMs.
• Proficiency with Git/source control, Linux development environments, and CI/CD workflows.
• Ability to independently prototype, evaluate, and productionize new technical approaches.

Responsibilities

• Design and build AI-enabled applications from prototype through production.
• Develop computer vision and multimodal AI workflows for imagery, video, drone data, geospatial data, and 3D environments.
• Apply modern techniques including segmentation, feature extraction, self-supervised learning, foundation models, LLMs, and VLMs.
• Develop AI workflows supporting drone-based inspection, mapping, perception, and emerging autonomous capabilities.
• Develop scalable Python services and APIs using frameworks such as FastAPI.
• Build data pipelines integrating AI inference, SQL databases, APIs, sensor-derived data, and external data sources.
• Optimize and deploy AI models using PyTorch, ONNX, and related inference tooling.
• Collaborate with engineers and domain experts to turn loosely defined technical problems into usable software.
• Contribute to software architecture, testing, source control, automated deployment, and production reliability.
• Rapidly evaluate emerging AI techniques and determine where they provide practical value.

Skills

Python

ML integration

FastAPI

Git

Linux

SQL databases

PyTorch

API design

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Robotics, Data Science, or related

Tools

PyTorch

ONNX

Docker

FastAPI

Git

Linux

Job description

In a world of possibilities, pursue one with endless opportunities. Imagine Next!At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what's possible.

Job Description:

Parsons is looking for an Applied AI Engineer to help build production-grade AI applications that transform complex real-world data into actionable information.

This role sits at the intersection of applied AI, computer vision, robotics, geospatial systems, and software engineering. You will work with diverse data sources, including drone imagery and video, mobile and 360° imagery, point clouds, LiDAR, geospatial data, and 3D models, and develop systems that apply modern AI techniques to analyze, organize, and reason over that information.

Our work increasingly touches drones, intelligent sensing, and autonomy, particularly where AI can improve how real-world environments are captured, reconstructed, understood, and inspected.

This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who enjoys taking ideas from prototype to production. You should be comfortable working across AI models, backend services, data pipelines, and user-facing applications.

This role would be based out of Parsons Westminster, Colorado office and will require in-office presence.

What You'll Do

• Design and build AI-enabled applications from prototype through production.
• Develop computer vision and multimodal AI workflows for imagery, video, drone data, geospatial data, and 3D environments.
• Apply modern techniques including segmentation, feature extraction, self-supervised learning, foundation models, LLMs, and VLMs.
• Develop AI workflows supporting drone-based inspection, mapping, perception, and emerging autonomous capabilities.
• Develop scalable Python services and APIs using frameworks such as FastAPI.
• Build data pipelines integrating AI inference, SQL databases, APIs, sensor-derived data, and external data sources.
• Optimize and deploy AI models using PyTorch, ONNX, and related inference tooling.
• Collaborate with engineers and domain experts to turn loosely defined technical problems into usable software.
• Contribute to software architecture, testing, source control, automated deployment, and production reliability.
• Rapidly evaluate emerging AI techniques and determine where they provide practical value.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Robotics, Data Science, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical work experience.
• 2+ years of experience building production-grade software using Python.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including modular design, testing, debugging, and maintainable code.
• Experience developing and integrating machine-learning or computer-vision models into real applications.
• Experience with PyTorch or a comparable ML framework.
• Experience building APIs and backend services; FastAPI or similar Python frameworks preferred.
• Experience working with SQL databases and structured data.
• Familiarity with modern AI techniques such as computer vision foundation models, embeddings, LLMs, or VLMs.
• Proficiency with Git/source control, Linux development environments, and CI/CD workflows.
• Ability to independently prototype, evaluate, and productionize new technical approaches.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with TypeScript and React or similar modern web-development frameworks.
• Experience building full-stack AI applications.
• Experience with geospatial or 3D data, including one or more of: LiDAR and point cloudsPhotogrammetryGIS/geospatial imageryDigital twins or facility modelsCamera geometry and 3D reconstruction
• Experience working with drone platforms, aerial imagery, mapping, or autonomous sensing systems.
• Experience with ONNX, GPU inference, model optimization, or edge deployment.
• Experience developing applications using LLMs or VLMs or SSL methods (SAM, DINO v3)
• Experience with segmentation, feature matching, embedding models, or self-supervised computer vision.
• Familiarity with Docker, cloud deployment, automated testing, and modern DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with ROS/ROS 2, localization, sensor systems, or robotics software.
• Experience working with drone, mobile, camera, or other real-world sensor datasets.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a builder: someone who can understand a technical problem, explore modern AI approaches, implement the supporting software, and deliver something people can actually use.

The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between AI experimentation and production engineering and is excited by problems involving computer vision, drones, spatial data, intelligent sensing, and real-world infrastructure.

Security Clearance Requirement

None

This position is part of our Critical Infrastructure team. For more than 80 years, our experts have designed and delivered the critical infrastructure that connects and protects communities around the world. We work in collaborative teams, both within the company and with our partners and customers, to plan, design, build, and modernize infrastructure. We take special pride in projects and solutions that improve communities as well as people's quality of life by promoting economic growth, enhancing mobility, and increasing sustainability and resiliency. Powered by our people, we provide the imagination necessary to support our customers' visions - to help them see what's next!

Salary

Salary Range: $74,800.00 - $130,900.00

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Paid time off
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• 401(k)
• Life insurance
• Flexible work schedules
• Holidays

Parsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.

We truly invest and care about our employee's wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars!