Data Engineer

IFG - International Financial Group; United States; Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

IFG - International Financial Group in the United States is seeking an AI/ML Data Engineering Leader to architect, build, and operate enterprise-scale data platforms powering vector databases, semantic search, and RAG.

You will establish governance, data lineage, prompt traceability, and explainability for production AI, working with cross-functional teams and mentoring senior engineers in a high-security environment.

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance required.
• Residency in the United States required.
• 20+ years of software/data engineering or cloud/AI platform experience.
• Proven delivery of enterprise-scale AI/ML in high-security environments.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve cloud-native AI data platforms for scale, security, and cost.
• Implement data quality, lineage, source attribution, and prompt/context auditability.
• Partner with Data Science, ML Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Architecture teams.
• Lead architectural reviews, CI/CD and MLOps practices, and mentor engineers.
• Evaluate and integrate vector DBs, retrieval frameworks, and evaluation toolkits.

Skills

Python

SQL

Leadership

Communication

Tools

Vector DBs

RAG

CI/CD

IaC

Observability

Job description

Location: United States (Remote / Hybrid depending on mission site)

Clearance: Active Top Secret / SCI with Polygraph (Mandatory)

About the Role

We are seeking an AI/ML Data Engineering Leader to architect, build, and operate enterprise-scale AI data platforms powering vector databases, semantic search, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and agentic workflows.

In this role, you will establish the core technical and governance foundations for production-grade AI—ensuring data lineage, prompt/context traceability, explainability, and evaluation across mission-critical environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Platform Architecture: Architect and evolve cloud-native, distributed AI data platforms optimized for scale, performance, security, and cost.
• Governance & Traceability: Implement controls for data quality, lineage, source attribution, prompt + context auditability, and AI output explainability.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with Data Science, ML Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Architecture teams to translate complex AI requirements into production capabilities.
• Engineering Standards: Lead architectural design reviews, elevate CI/CD and MLOps practices, and mentor senior engineering talent.
• Technology Evaluation: Continuously evaluate and integrate emerging AI tech stacks (vector DBs, retrieval frameworks, evaluation toolkits).

Qualifications & Experience

• Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Polygraph (Strictly required).
• Residency: Must currently reside in the United States.
• Experience: 20+ years of deep experience in software engineering, data engineering, distributed systems, or cloud/AI platform development.
• Track Record: Proven delivery of enterprise-scale AI/ML, GenAI, or agentic systems in complex, high-security, or regulated environments.
• Tech Stack: Expert proficiency in Python, SQL, Cloud Platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP), Vector DBs, RAG, embeddings, CI/CD, IaC, and observability.
• Leadership: Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate technical trade-offs to business and mission leadership.