Applied AI Lead - Solutions & Delivery

Leonardo DRS; Fort Walton Beach, Northern (FL, KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Leonardo DRS, Inc. seeks an Applied AI Lead to turn ambitious AI ideas into working capabilities.

You will build and deploy AI across signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and mission systems, partnering with engineers and operators to ship end‑to‑end solutions that meet defense and commercial needs. This is a high‑impact, founding individual contributor role within the AI Excellence function, offering direct line to leadership, broad visibility, and opportunities for growth as you scale

Qualifications

• 5+ years of engineering or operational delivery experience, including 3+ years shipping applied AI/ML.
• Proven track record shipping production capability — not just demos.
• Experience building systems with no prior predecessor and ongoing use.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, CS, Data Science, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Discover the real work by observing practitioners and surface the actual steps.
• Break down work into small, measurable units and define how AI fits.
• Ship pilots end-to-end with production hand-off and ownership.
• Leave it running by training local owners to sustain capability.
• Make the system smarter by turning each project into reusable patterns.

Skills

AI/ML delivery

Production deployment

Translate ambiguity

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/CS/Data Science

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

Applied AI Lead - Solutions & Delivery

Location: Beavercreek, OH, US, 45431 Frederick, MD, US, 21703 Fort Walton Beach, FL, US, 32548

Job ID:115204

The Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems business is a global leader and strategic partner committed to delivering world‑class, full life‑cycle defense and intelligence products that protect the security of our nation and our allies. From air combat training to state‑of‑the‑art electronic warfare systems, our technology is deployed by virtually all U.S. military and government agencies around the world .

This is a hybrid position open to candidates who reside in or near Beavercreek, Ohio; Frederick, Maryland; or Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Job Summary

Turn “I wish AI could…” into working capability.

We've used AI before, now we treat it as a first‑class citizen at Airborne & Intelligence Systems (AIS). We build and deploy AI across signals intelligence, electronic warfare, air combat training, and the mission systems that connect them. This work shows up on our floor, in the field, and on the company's P&L, while meeting the demanding standards of our defense and commercial customers. If you want your work and your talent to count — this is the place.

You are the person who goes to where the work is actually happening, the engineering desks, the shop floor, the back office and finds the real opportunities for AI. This is not a job where requirements are clean and arrive on a ticket. You find meaningful work yourself, the work is visible and your whole org gets rated on it. You listen for the wish beneath the request, break the work into concrete steps, figure out which steps AI can genuinely do well, and then build and ship the first working version. Before you leave, you train the user to own it, so the win stays. Everything you ship becomes a reusable pattern that makes the next project faster. You are not just delivering pilots — you are building the library the whole function scales on.

At the heart of this function is a proprietary platform, the encoded way this business does AI. It takes any employee from a rough idea to a governed, well‑formed use case, checks it against the rules, and prepares a recommendation a human decision‑maker rules on. You don't just use it, you also feed and build it. You are the platform’s primary source of truth from the field. Every use case you ship becomes a reusable pattern proposed back into the system, so the next person’s idea becomes an even better solution because of your work.

This is a high impact, founding individual‑contributor seat within the technical core of AI Excellence function with meaningful end to end work ownership. You report directly to top leadership of the function giving you outsize visibility, opportunity for personal growth and direct line to impact. Your peers will be AI leads for Evaluation Measurement/Infrastructure & Deployment

Job Responsibilities

Primary & Essential Accountabilities .

• Discover the real work. Sit with practitioners; surface the actual step‑by‑step process beneath a vague “AI should do this” request. The practitioners can range from very senior engineer with multiple patents/ PhD… to a non‑technical business focused user.
• Break it down. Decompose the work into small, clear units; identify where AI fits and where it doesn’t; wire each step to a real source of truth.
• Ship it. Own pilots from first conversation to production hand‑off — a working thing, running, in the hands of the people who need it.
• Leave it running. Train a local owner and deputize champions so capability spreads without adding headcount.
• Make the system smarter. Turn each project into a reusable pattern that improves the shared AI platform for everyone after you.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of engineering or operational delivery experience (regardless of total years exp), including 3+ years shipping applied AI/ML, with recent hands‑on work using modern large‑language‑model tools.
• A demonstrated record of shipping and operating production capability — not research, not demos. You can walk us through at least two systems, including what broke and what you’d do differently.
• At least one of those was built where no team, no spec, and no predecessor system existed — and it was still in use after you moved on.
• Demonstrated ability to translate ambiguous, real‑world work into scoped, measurable pieces, flagging risks unprompted.
• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years experience or equivalent combination of both. Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related technical field is preferred
• Five years of relevant experience (or an equivalent combination of experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities)
• Proficient technical expertise with demonstrated application
• Excellent interpersonal, leadership, negotiation, communication and writing skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Forward deployed or embedded delivery experience with non‑technical/highly technical, initially skeptical users.
• A track record of training or deputizing others who kept delivering after you left.
• Defense, manufacturing, or regulated‑industry domain experience (operations, quality, inspection).
• Active or prior security clearance.

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.

Taking care of our people is a top priority at Leonardo DRS. We are proud to offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a company contribution to a health savings account, telemedicine, life and disability insurance, legal insurance, and a 401(k) savings plan. We champion wellness programs that focus on physical, emotional, and financial well‑being. We develop our talent by offering programs and activities to support career‑growth, professional development, and skill enhancement. And we understand there is more to life than work, and the importance of offering flexible work schedules with our 9/80 program, competitive vacation, health/emergency leave, paid parental leave, and community service hours.
Some employees are eligible for limited benefits only.

Leonardo DRS, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. #AIS

Our Vision. To be the leading mid‑tier defense technology company in the U.S.

Our Values. The Leonardo DRS culture is defined by our Core Values and Principles:

• Integrity
• Agility
• Excellence
• Customer Focus
• Community & Respect
• Innovation

We strive to uphold them in all aspects of our business practices to inspire our employees and provide outstanding support for our customers.