Senior AI Engineer: Build Policy‑Focused AI Tools

Center for a New American Security; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 125,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

Center for a New American Security (CNAS) seeks an AI Engineer/Senior AI Engineer to embed with national security researchers, editors, and designers. You will prototype AI-powered tools and agent workflows, refine successful approaches, and scale them across CNAS.

You will work closely with the AI Policy Lab, report to the VP of Strategy and Communications, and help shape lab operations from the ground floor. This is a hands-on, autonomous role, not purely research.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or related field or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience using AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor) and ability to explain, test, debug, and take responsibility for resulting code.
• Full-stack engineering experience building and deploying custom software, agent workflows, or data pipelines with AI coding tools.
• Ability to explain technical concepts clearly and train non-technical colleagues.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects and shifting priorities.
• Legal right to work in the United States.

Responsibilities

• Embed with CNAS researchers to build custom code, applications, and AI agent workflows that support research and analysis.
• Rapidly prototype tools and refine them based on how colleagues use them.
• Build agents and pipelines that gather, process, analyze, and visualize documents, transcripts, and datasets for CNAS research.
• Build custom tools and software to automate business functions and accelerate productivity.

Skills

AI coding tools

Full-stack development

Explain technical concepts

Project management

US work authorization

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE or related

Job description

Center for a New American Security (CNAS) seeks an AI Engineer/Senior AI Engineer to embed with national security researchers, editors, and designers. You will prototype AI-powered tools and agent workflows, refine successful approaches, and scale them across CNAS.

You will work closely with the AI Policy Lab, report to the VP of Strategy and Communications, and help shape lab operations from the ground floor. This is a hands-on, autonomous role, not purely research.