Chief AI Architect for Mission-Critical Platform

ClearEdge; Jessup (MD); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training benefit $10k annually

10% 401(k) contribution

Health and technology allowances

Access to technology lab

Job summary

ClearEdge is seeking a Chief Architect to set the technical direction for a core AI-enabled product, supporting deployments across hybrid and air-gapped networks. You will lead architectural decisions, prototype new AI capabilities, and mentor multiple engineering teams to keep the platform modular, secure, and scalable for current and future customers.

Ideal candidates bring 15+ years of IT experience, TS/SCI with Poly, and a track record of translating business goals into durable architectural

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance; U.S. citizenship.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or similar (4 years of experience may substitute)
• 15+ years of IT experience
• Experience with Generative AI: frontier LLMs, AI-native IDEs, RAG and vector stores, agentic AI principles
• Experience deploying complex systems across hybrid and air-gapped environments
• Experience across the full software development lifecycle
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including briefings for internal and external leadership

Responsibilities

• Own architecture vision for an assigned product, scaling it across current and future customer engagements
• Lead proofs of concept and prototypes evaluating new technologies
• Perform technical trade-off analysis and implementation decisions across teams
• Produce functional design documents; support installation and integration of the platform baseline
• Mentor engineers, including leads embedded in specific customer implementations
• Support business development: whitepaper authoring, customer briefings, proposals
• Deliver technical briefings and presentations to internal and external leadership

Skills

Architecture leadership

AI-native development

Frontier LLMs

RAG and vector stores

Hybrid and air-gapped deployment

Full software development lifecycle

Technical leadership across teams

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE/IS

Tools

Security clearance TS/SCI

Job description

ClearEdge is seeking a Chief Architect to set the technical direction for a core AI-enabled product, supporting deployments across hybrid and air-gapped networks. You will lead architectural decisions, prototype new AI capabilities, and mentor multiple engineering teams to keep the platform modular, secure, and scalable for current and future customers.

Ideal candidates bring 15+ years of IT experience, TS/SCI with Poly, and a track record of translating business goals into durable architectural