Senior AI/ML & Data Engineer

Accenture; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 203,000; Full time

Job summary

Accenture Federal Services seeks a Senior AI/ML and Data Engineer to develop and maintain enterprise AI solutions for federal clients. You will shape AI strategy, design scalable pipelines, and deploy production-grade ML in secure environments.

Collaborate with data/cloud engineers, cybersecurity, and mission SMEs to architect end-to-end AI systems that are reliable, compliant, and impactful.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, cloud-native development, or data engineering.
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn).
• Hands on experience with LLM development (OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, HuggingFace Transformers).
• Experience architecting ML pipelines using AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps and IaC tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, Jenkins, GitLab, etc.).
• Experience implementing microservices, APIs, and containerized workloads (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS/EKS/AKS).

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy ML models, LLM apps, and RAG pipelines.
• Build data preprocessing, training, tuning, inference, and evaluation workflows.
• Create scalable ML pipelines with modern toolchains (SageMaker, Bedrock, Azure ML, Databricks, Ray, HuggingFace).
• Implement MLOps including CI/CD for ML, versioning, monitoring, logging, and drift detection.
• Shape AI system design decisions including vector DB selection, embedding strategies, prompt architecture, and model selection.
• Define target state architectures for LLM-enabled applications and AI microservices.
• Collaborate with data/cloud engineering teams and mission SMEs to deliver end-to-end AI systems.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

Cloud-native development

Data engineering

Python

LLM development

AWS/Azure/GCP

DevSecOps

Docker/Kubernetes

MLOps

Vector databases

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in CS/Engineering/Applied Math

Tools

SageMaker

Bedrock

Azure ML

Databricks

Ray

HuggingFace

Snowflake

BigQuery

Terraform

CloudFormation

Job description

At Accenture Federal Services, nothing matters more than helping the US federal government make the nation stronger and safer and life better for people.Our 13,000+ people are united in a shared purpose to pursue the limitless potential of technology and ingenuity for clients across defense, national security, public safety, civilian, and military health organizations.

Join Accenture Federal Services, a technology company within global Accenture. Recognized as a Glassdoor Top 100 Best Place to Work, we offer a collaborative and caring community where you feel like you belong and are empowered to grow, learn and thrive through hands-on experience, certifications, industry training and more.

Join us to drive positive, lasting change that moves missions and the government forward!

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced Senior AI/ML and Data Engineer to develop, implement, and maintain sophisticated machine learning, LLM, and enterprise AI solutions for our federal client. The ideal candidate combines strong hands on engineering talent with architectural leadership—capable of shaping mission aligned AI strategy, designing scalable pipelines, and delivering production-grade ML and Generative AI capabilities in secure environments. This role will partner with cross functional teams - including data engineering, cloud engineering, cybersecurity, and mission SMEs - to architect end-to-end AI systems that are reliable, compliant, and impactful.

The work you'll do

• AI/ML Engineering :
• Design, develop, and deploy machine learning models, LLM applications, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, and agentic AI systems.
• Build data preprocessing, training, fine tuning, inference, and evaluation workflows.
• Develop scalable ML pipelines using modern toolchains (SageMaker, Bedrock, Azure ML, Databricks, Ray, HuggingFace).
• Implement MLOps solutions including CI/CD for ML, model versioning, monitoring, logging, and drift detection.
• Shape AI system design decisions including vector DB selection, embedding strategies, prompt architecture, and model selection.
• Define target state architectures for LLM enabled applications, AI microservices, RAG pipelines, and knowledge retrieval systems.
• Data & Cloud Engineering :
• Design, build, and maintain scalable automated data pipelines (ETL/ELT) to support both batch and real-time data processing.
• Architect data lakes and warehouses (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery) to ensure high availability and performance for ML workflows.
• Implement rigorous data quality checks and validation frameworks to ensure "garbage-in, garbage-out" never applies to our models.
• Delivery & Stakeholder Engagement :
• Work closely with program leadership, technical SMEs, and mission stakeholders to define requirements and AI roadmaps.
• Translate business problems into technical AI solutions and communicate tradeoffs to mixed audiences.
• Produce architecture diagrams, interface specifications, deployment patterns, and integration plans.

Here’s what you'll need

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas:
• AI/ML engineering, cloud-native development, or data engineering.
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn).
• Hands on experience with LLM development (OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, HuggingFace Transformers).
• Experience architecting ML pipelines using AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps and IaC tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, Jenkins, GitLab, etc.).
• Experience implementing microservices, APIs, and containerized workloads (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS/EKS/AKS).

Bonus points if you have

• Experience building RAG pipelines with vector databases (Pinecone, FAISS, Weaviate, Milvus).
• Experience designing agentic workflows and multi agent AI systems.
• Experience with graph databases, knowledge graphs, or semantic search.
• Certifications such as AWS Architect, AWS ML Specialty, Azure AI Engineer, Security+.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
• Strong problem-solving abilities with a product focused mindset.
• Strong communication and client facing consulting skills.
• Ability to work across cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Understanding of security frameworks (FedRAMP, NIST 800 53, Zero Trust) for ML systems.

Security clearance

• Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance is required; and must be able and willing to upgrade to TS/SCI with Poly.

#clearancejobs

As required by local law, Accenture Federal Services provides reasonable ranges of compensation for hired roles based on labor costs in the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and the city of Cleveland. The base pay range for this position in these locations is shown below. Compensation for roles at Accenture Federal Services varies depending on a wide array of factors, including but not limited to office location, role, skill set, and level of experience. Accenture Federal Services offers a wide variety of benefits. You can find more information on benefits here. (https://www.accenture.com/us-en/careers/your-future-rewards-benefits) We accept applications on an on-going basis and there is no fixed deadline to apply.

The pay range for the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and the city of Cleveland is:

$100,200—$203,400 USD

What We Believe

As a company wholly dedicated to serving the US federal government, we bring together the best talent to help reinvent how federal agencies operate and deliver greater value for their mission and the American people. We have an unwavering commitment to creating a culture in which all our people are respected, feel a sense of belonging, and have equal opportunity. As a business imperative, every person at Accenture Federal Services has the responsibility to create and sustain a culture where everyone feels welcomed and included. This is grounded in our core values and our experience that hiring and developing great people who reflect different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds is key to driving innovation and delivering the results that our clients and the country count on.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences. All employment decisions shall be made without regard to age, race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law. Our rich diversity makes us more innovative, more competitive, and more creative, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities. For details, view a copy of theAccenture Federal Services Equal Opportunity Policy Statement. (https://afscommunities.force.com/careers/s/equal-opportunity-annual-policy)

Accenture Federal Services is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Additionally, as an Affinitive Action Employer for Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities, Accenture Federal Services is committed to providing veteran employment opportunities to our service men and women.

Requesting An Accommodation

Accenture Federal Services is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities or religious observances, including reasonable accommodation when needed. If you are hired by Accenture Federal Services and require accommodation to perform the essential functions of your role, you will be asked to participate in our reasonable accommodation process. Accommodations made to facilitate the recruiting process are not a guarantee of future or continued accommodations once hired.

If you are being considered for employment opportunities with Accenture Federal Services and need an accommodation for a disability or religious observance during the interview process or for the job you are interviewing for, please speak with your recruiter.

Other Employment Statements

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

Candidates who are currently employed by a client of Accenture Federal Services or an affiliated Accenture business may not be eligible for consideration.

Job candidates will not be obligated to disclose sealed or expunged records of conviction or arrest as part of the hiring process.

The Company will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. Additionally, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the Company's legal duty to furnish information.

California requires additional notifications for applicants and employees. If you are a California resident, live in or plan to work from Los Angeles County upon being hired for this position, please click here (https://www.accenture.com/us-en/careers/life-at-accenture/e-verify-legal-notices) for additional important information.