Senior AI/ML Developer with TS/SCI + Polygraph

Aperio Global; North Dakota; On-site; USD 200,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental &amp

Retirement Plan (401k) with employer 6

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Disability

Professional Development

(and much more)

Job summary

Aperio Global is seeking a Senior AI/ML Developer to join an R&D team in McLean, VA. You’ll prototype AI technologies, build PoC apps, and design data models using RAG, LLMs, and modern data infrastructure.

You will work in a fast-paced environment, documenting results and shaping approaches with researchers and engineers. Requires TS/SCI clearance and 8+ years of experience.

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph required at time of application.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS/Math/Statistics or related field; equivalent experience may substitute.
• 8+ years of software engineering and AI/ML development experience.
• Expert-level Python for ML/NLP applications.
• Hands-on experience designing RAG pipelines and LLM-based solutions.
• Experience with large language models, prompt engineering, evaluation, and transformers.
• Experience designing RESTful APIs for data exchange and system integration.
• Deep PostgreSQL expertise including schema design, complex queries, and performance.
• Cloud infrastructure experience on AWS, GCP, or Azure for AI prototyping.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and prototype solutions using RAG architectures and LLMs.
• Build and iterate on PoC apps to demonstrate new AI capabilities.
• Design, develop, and integrate RESTful APIs for data exchange across systems.
• Own data modeling, querying, and performance optimization in PostgreSQL for AI/ML.
• Collaborate with researchers to evaluate approaches and document results.
• Share findings to support team-wide knowledge growth in AI/ML.

Skills

Python

RAG pipelines

LLMs

Prompt engineering

RESTful APIs

PostgreSQL

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Math/Stats

Tools

pgvector

Pinecone

Weaviate

Chroma

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Haystack

PostGIS

Job description

How We’re Different

We believe the highest-impact work in national security and technology is a team sport. At Aperio Global, we operate as a single, cohesive force aligned on a handful of mission-critical efforts where our work truly moves the needle. We don’t chase small wins. We solve for next.

We view the intersection of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data analytics as an empirical discipline as rigorous and consequential as any field in science or engineering. That means we bring intellectual honesty, accountability, and transparency to every problem we take on. Our team includes tech innovators, Intelligence Community veterans, and security professionals who know that the best solutions come from diverse minds working toward a common mission. We value our people, those working quietly behind the scenes, doing the hard work that keeps our nation secure.

The best way to understand how we think is to see what we’ve built. From full-spectrum cyber operations and de-biased AI platforms to quantum networking and cloud-native software systems, our work speaks for itself.

Come solve with us

We offer competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package — including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, generous paid time off, short and long-term disability, professional development, and much more. We invest in our people because they are our most important asset — and because the mission demands the best.

Aperio Global is looking for a Senior AI/ML Developer to join an R&D team in McLean, VA focused on prototyping and evaluating emerging AI technologies. This is a hands‑on engineering role in a fast-paced, experimentation‑driven environment where you’ll design, build, and iterate on cutting‑edge solutions using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), large language models (LLMs), and modern data infrastructure.

You won’t be maintaining legacy systems or sitting in status meetings. You’ll be figuring out what works, documenting what doesn’t, and helping shape how the team approaches complex technical challenges with AI.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and prototype solutions leveraging RAG architectures , LLMs , and emerging AI/ML technologies
• Build and iterate on proof‑of‑concept applications to evaluate and demonstrate new AI capabilities
• Design, develop, and integrate RESTful APIs to enable data retrieval and exchange across systems
• Own data modeling, querying, and performance optimization in PostgreSQL for AI/ML contexts
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to evaluate approaches, document results, and recommend technical next steps
• Share insights and findings to support team‑wide knowledge growth in AI/ML advancements

Minimum Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph (required at time of application)
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field; equivalent professional experience may substitute
• 8+ years of relevant technical experience in software engineering and AI/ML development
• Expert‑level Python programming skills applied to machine learning and NLP systems
• Hands‑on experience designing and implementing RAG pipelines and LLM‑based solutions
• Demonstrated experience with large language models (LLMs), including prompt engineering , model evaluation, and transformer architectures
• Experience designing and integrating RESTful APIs for data exchange and system integration
• Deep expertise with PostgreSQL including schema design, complex querying, and performance tuning
• Cloud infrastructure experience on AWS , GCP , or Azure including deploying and testing AI prototypes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with vector databases such as pgvector , Pinecone , Weaviate , or Chroma to support semantic search and AI/ML workflows
• Familiarity with LLM orchestration frameworks such as LangChain , LlamaIndex , or Haystack
• Background or interest in geospatial data, systems, or analytic tools (e.g., PostGIS , GDAL )
• Experience developing or maintaining data pipelines, ETL workflows, or orchestration tools such as Airflow or Prefect
• Familiarity with MLOps practices including model deployment, versioning, and monitoring
• Background or interest in working with geospatial data, systems, or analytic tools.
• Experience developing or maintaining data pipelines and utilizing vector databases to support AI/ML workflows.

Salary range is dependent on experience level: 200k-240k

The salary range for this role represents Aperio’s good‑faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Placement within the range is based on multiple factors, including but not limited to an individual’s qualifications, relevant experience, education, certifications, technical skills, contract labor categories and/or rates, work location, market conditions, and business needs.

Benefits

At Aperio Global, we understand the value of investing in our most important asset—our employees. That’s why we have crafted a comprehensive benefits package designed to help you make the best decision for yourself, your family and your lifestyle.

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA) with 100% employer match up to 6%
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Professional Development
• (and much more)

Aperio Global is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive workforce where all employees and applicants are treated with respect and fairness. Employment decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs — never on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy/childbirth, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, ethnicity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.