Mid AI/ML Engineer

Ignite Digital; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 129,385 - 158,138; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay and benefits

Education stipends

Opportunities with federal government

Community engagement

Growth-focused environment

Supportive colleagues

Job summary

Ignite Digital is hiring an AI/ML Engineer to independently contribute to developing and optimizing advanced AI/ML systems for a large federal data ecosystem. You will work with autonomy, apply creative solutions, and influence major technical deliverables within a collaborative team.

The role focuses on building LLM-based systems, deploying models on cloud platforms, and shaping end-to-end ML pipelines with a strong emphasis on security and mission impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, engineering, mathematics, or related field.
• 3+ years AI/ML professional experience.
• Strong experience building ML systems and deploying models.

Responsibilities

• Independently develop and optimize ML models, pipelines, and platform components.
• Build RAG architectures and high-performing inference systems.
• Create scalable infrastructure to support training, experimentation, and deployment.
• Lead integration of AI/ML models into production systems.
• Conduct advanced troubleshooting and performance tuning.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to accelerate mission-driven insights.

Skills

LLM-based systems

RAG architectures

MLOps tools

Advanced scripting

Cloud deployment

Education

Bachelor’s degree (CS/Engineering/Math)

Tools

MLFlow

Kubeflow

Airflow

AWS Bedrock

Databricks

Job description

Ignite Digital enables national security agencies to accelerate decisions, elevate operational outcomes and achieve the outsized performance only an inside partner can deliver.

We combine mission experience, domain knowledge and technology expertise with the things partners can only know by being there every day. When agencies need a combination of tech and touch, Ignite Digital creates outcome-driving partnerships and stands with agencies to accomplish mission objectives.

Ignite Digital accelerates capability to the speed of every mission, deploying intelligent solutions and AI integration for faster, better transformation. Ignite delivers partnership beyond presentations to inspire the confidence to lead in a digital-forward world.

Ignite Digital. The Edge from Within.

Perks Of Working At Ignite Digital

• Competitive pay and benefits, including PTO
• Education stipends and referral bonuses
• Compelling work with the U.S. federal government
• Strong emphasis on volunteer and community engagement
• Opportunity to shape the future of our industry
• Supportive colleagues and management who invest in your growth

Ignite Digital Services is hiring an AI/ML Engineer to independently contribute to developing and optimizing advanced AI/ML systems and components in support of a large federal enterprise multi-domain data ecosystem. You will operate with autonomy, apply creative solutions, and influence major technical deliverables, while delivering within a larger team project management environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Independently develop and optimize ML models, pipelines, and platform components.
• Build RAG architectures and high-performing inference systems.
• Create scalable infrastructure to support training, experimentation, and deployment.
• Lead integration of AI/ML models into production systems.
• Conduct advanced troubleshooting and performance tuning.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to accelerate mission-driven insights.

Required Skills

• Deep experience building LLM-based systems and RAG architectures.
• Strong proficiency in MLOps tools (e.g. MLFlow, Kubeflow, Airflow).
• Advanced scripting (e.g. Python, JavaScript, Rust).
• Expertise deploying models on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Ability to work independently with broad responsibilities.

Desired Skills

• Experience with scientific datasets or multi-domain research workflows.
• Familiarity with AWS Bedrock, Databricks, vector databases or comparable technologies.
• Strong foundation in prompt engineering or AI agents.
• Experience working with federal clients.

Clearance Requirements

• U.S. Citizen — Secret or TS/SCI eligible

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, engineering, mathematics, or related field.
• 3+ years AI/ML professional experience.
• Intermediate certifications (CCSP, CFR, FITSP-M, GSEC, Security+, SSCP) or advanced certifications (SecurityX / CASP+, GCSA, GSLC, CISSP).

Work Location: National Capital Region

• On client site with potential for hybrid telework

Internal Salary Guidance

• Maximum salary for T&M Rate card: $143,762.77

Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Ignite Digital is a Small Business committed to providing exceptional service to government agencies at competitive prices. The capabilities and experience of our staff and our extensive industry relationships distinguish Ignite Digital Services among government contractors.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

For individuals who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://bit.ly/2XqZoLM (CA) or https://bit.ly/3Eo922f (SC) or contact Human Resources. Ignite Digital Services will not make any posting or employment decision that does not comply with applicable laws relating to labor and employment, equal employment opportunity, employment eligibility requirements or related matters. Nor will Ignite Digital Services require, in a posting or otherwise, U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency in the U.S. as a condition of employment except as necessary to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or federal, state, or local government contract.

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EEO is the Law Poster