Lead AI Data Platform Architect (Vector/RAG)

Omniscius; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Omniscius seeks a Senior AI/ML Data Engineer to lead the data ecosystem powering vector search, RAG, and LLM applications for DoD and IC clients. You will collaborate across infrastructure, cybersecurity, software engineering, and mission stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure AI solutions.

You will translate highly technical concepts into clear operational impacts for senior leadership, drive architectural decisions, and promote best practices while maximizing reuse of enterprise

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph clearance required.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or related quantitative discipline (equivalent experience considered).
• 20+ years of progressive experience in software/data engineering, cloud architecture, or AI/ML platform development.
• Proven experience delivering enterprise-scale AI/ML/Agentic AI solutions.
• Experience building production cloud-native data platforms for advanced analytics and AI workloads.
• Experience navigating complex enterprise environments with governance, security, and dependencies.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and modern software engineering practices.
• Deep experience with Azure/AWS/Google Cloud data and AI platforms.
• Experience implementing vector databases, embedding pipelines, and retrieval architectures.
• Experience with CI/CD, orchestration, infrastructure automation, and observability tooling.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to influence and persuade across stakeholders.
• Experience leading engineering teams and mentoring engineers.

Responsibilities

• Architect and maintain enterprise-scale data platforms supporting vector databases, semantic search, and RAG/Agentic AI systems.
• Establish controls for data quality, lineage, prompt/context traceability, explainability, and evaluation of AI outputs.
• Lead architectural decisions balancing performance, security, reliability, and cost.
• Collaborate with Data Scientists, ML Engineers, Architects, Cybersecurity, and Software Engineers to translate AI requirements into production-grade capabilities.
• Translate AI and data concepts into actionable risks, opportunities, and implementation plans for leadership.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to align AI initiatives and maximize reuse of enterprise capabilities.
• Implement monitoring, observability, and alerting for reliable AI data platforms.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers; promote best practices and innovation.
• Assess emerging AI technologies and frameworks to improve organizational AI capabilities.

Skills

Python

SQL

Cloud platforms

Vector databases

RAG

CI/CD

Observability

Communication

Clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Data Science or related field

Tools

Azure

AWS

Google Cloud

Job description

Omniscius seeks a Senior AI/ML Data Engineer to lead the data ecosystem powering vector search, RAG, and LLM applications for DoD and IC clients. You will collaborate across infrastructure, cybersecurity, software engineering, and mission stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure AI solutions.

You will translate highly technical concepts into clear operational impacts for senior leadership, drive architectural decisions, and promote best practices while maximizing reuse of enterprise