Defense AI Engineering Manager — Python & ML Lead

SDFM; Baton Rouge (LA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Job summary

ZenaTech in Baton Rouge, LA, is building an elite defense AI engineering team to own Python and ML delivery within export-controlled boundaries. The role leads biometric voice security, drone autonomy, and secure audio products, reporting to raise the function from ground up with dated commitments to ship.

The engineering manager will establish the development environment, coordinate with global product and hardware teams, and ensure compliance with CMMC Level 2 requirements while traveling

Qualifications

• 7+ years building production Python systems.
• 2+ years directly managing engineers.
• Experience working under export control, CMMC, DFARS 252.204-7012, or a comparable controlled regime.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, and eligible to work in a CMMC Level 2 environment.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery for all Baton Rouge Python and machine learning work, with estimates that hold up against program timelines.
• Make and document architecture decisions across Voice Lock, ZenaQuiet, and drone autonomy workstreams so they share one coherent stack.
• Stand up the development environment inside the CMMC Level 2 boundary - source control, CI, and model training storage - with the compliance owner.
• Define and hold the boundary between export-controlled work done in Baton Rouge and commercial work done elsewhere.
• Coordinate with product engineering in Toronto and hardware teams in multiple countries, resolving dependencies before they become schedule slips.
• Travel 15-20% to Toronto, Europe, and customer and program sites.

Skills

Python

Leadership

Machine Learning

Export control

Tools

CI/CD

Source control

Job description

ZenaTech in Baton Rouge, LA, is building an elite defense AI engineering team to own Python and ML delivery within export-controlled boundaries. The role leads biometric voice security, drone autonomy, and secure audio products, reporting to raise the function from ground up with dated commitments to ship.

The engineering manager will establish the development environment, coordinate with global product and hardware teams, and ensure compliance with CMMC Level 2 requirements while traveling