Senior AI/ML Architect for Mission-Critical Systems

Sierra Nevada Corporation; Englewood (CO); Hybrid; USD 143,487 - 197,295; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical plan

Dental plan

Vision plan

401(k) match up to 150%

3 weeks PTO

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Sierra Nevada Corporation is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to lead complex AI/ML system development for mission-critical aerospace and defense projects. You will architect, train, and optimize advanced models, including transformers and RL agents, and provide technical leadership across cross‑functional teams.

You will drive exploratory work, validation frameworks, and compliance with safety and cybersecurity standards while mentoring engineers and collaborating with stakeholders to meet

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, applied statistics, or a related STEM discipline.
• 10+ years experience in a related field or a higher level degree may substitute for experience.
• Advanced skills in machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch) and modern AI/ML techniques, including supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning.
• Demonstrated ability to design and optimise generative AI models (transformers) and neural networks for complex applications.
• Extensive experience architecting, deploying, and optimizing AI/ML systems, including ANNs, CNNs, RNNs, in large‑scale or mission‑critical environments.
• Strong proficiency in Python, C++, C#, or Java, with experience building scalable AI/ML systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams or projects, including mentoring junior staff.
• Proven track record of deploying AI/ML models in production environments and optimizing them for real‑world use cases.
• Knowledge of regulatory and cybersecurity requirements for AI/ML systems in aerospace and defense applications.
• Experience designing and optimizing generative AI models including transformers and GANs.
• Experience building or integrating transformer‑based models for retrieval‑augmented or hybrid reasoning systems.
• Proficiency designing embedding, retrieval, or indexing pipelines for large, multi‑source datasets.
• Familiarity with explainable AI (XAI) techniques for safety‑critical environments.
• Hands‑on experience with reinforcement learning and real‑time systems applicable to MPC.

Responsibilities

• Exploration & Innovation: explore ideas and rapidly prototype feasibility with stakeholders.
• RAG‑Focused AI/ML Development: build retrieval augmented and transformer-based AI components.
• MPC & Real‑Time Decisioning Exploration: prototype MPC-aligned models and reinforcement‑learning control.
• Advanced AI/ML Modeling & Technical Leadership: design, train, optimize transformers, GANs, RL agents, and real‑time systems; mentor teams.
• Safety, Validation & Integration Support: create validation frameworks and assist integration teams.

Skills

Python

C++

C#

Java

Machine learning

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Transformers

Reinforcement learning

Explainable AI

Team leadership

Regulatory awareness

Cybersecurity

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/math/related STEM

Master’s degree or Ph.D. in AI/ML

Tools

CUDA

TensorRT

Job description

Sierra Nevada Corporation is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to lead complex AI/ML system development for mission-critical aerospace and defense projects. You will architect, train, and optimize advanced models, including transformers and RL agents, and provide technical leadership across cross‑functional teams.

You will drive exploratory work, validation frameworks, and compliance with safety and cybersecurity standards while mentoring engineers and collaborating with stakeholders to meet