Senior Applied AI-Machine Learning Engineer

Atlas Technologies, Inc.; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 130,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous benefits package

Job summary

Atlas Tech seeks a Senior Applied AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and operationalize AI/ML solutions that solve mission-critical problems. You will lead architectures, choose models, build experiments, and translate complex concepts into usable capabilities for end users.

The ideal candidate blends research, prototyping, and practical engineering, with hands-on production deployments, scalable pipelines, and close collaboration with product and domain teams to deliver measurable value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in applied AI/ML engineering, including production deployments
• Experience with LLMs, fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), prompt engineering, or custom model training
• Experience with vector databases, high-dimensional embeddings, and semantic search
• Experience applying LoRA adapters for efficient fine-tuning of foundation models, including training, evaluation, and integration into production pipelines
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Hugging Face, LangChain, or similar
• Experience building and operating AI/ML systems in air-gapped environments
• Deep understanding of model development: supervised/unsupervised learning, neural networks, transformers, time-series, embeddings
• Familiarity with modern AI/ML ops tooling: MLflow, SageMaker, Vertex AI, Databricks, or equivalent
• Strong understanding of API design, microservices, containers, and CI/CD for ML
• Ability to connect technical solutions to business value and communicate effectively with executives and non-technical stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy scalable AI/ML tools for generative AI use cases
• Develop end-to-end ML pipelines, including LLM tool integration, data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and monitoring
• Implement production-grade inference systems and integrate ML models into applications, APIs, and microservices
• Lead experimentation, define hypotheses, run evaluations, assess model performance, and identify improvement strategies
• Work closely with engineering teams to build robust, secure, and maintainable AI-enabled architectures
• Provide periodic instruction and prompt fine-tuning to resolve newly discovered hallucination vectors, user-reported biases, or changes in operational terminology
• Partner with domain SMEs to translate real-world constraints into effective features, labels, and model requirements
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and foundation models and recommend their use in mission-relevant applications
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to internal standards, coding practices, and reusable components
• Ensure responsible AI practices, bias evaluation, data governance, model explainability, and ethical use of automated systems
• Prepare demos, prototypes, and proof-of-concept integrations that clearly illustrate feasibility and value

Skills

LLMs

RAG

Prompt engineering

LoRA adapters

Python

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

LangChain

API design

CI/CD

containers

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in CS/ML/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Hugging Face

LangChain

MLflow

SageMaker

Vertex AI

Databricks

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Applied AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and operationalize advanced AI/ML solutions that solve high-impact mission, operational, and business problems. This role blends deep technical expertise with practical, hands‑on engineering, building AI enabled applications, deploying them into production systems, and working closely with product, engineering, and domain teams to deliver measurable value.

You will play a lead role in shaping solution architectures, selecting the right models and frameworks, developing experiments, and translating complex concepts into working capabilities that end users can rely on. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable in research, prototyping, and applied engineering environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy scalable AI/ML tools for generative AI use cases
• Develop end-to-end ML pipelines, including LLM tool integration, data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and monitoring
• Implement production-grade inference systems and integrate ML models into applications, APIs, and microservices
• Lead experimentation, define hypotheses, run evaluations, assess model performance, and identify improvement strategies
• Work closely with engineering teams to build robust, secure, and maintainable AI-enabled architectures
• Provide periodic instruction and prompt fine-tuning to resolve newly discovered hallucination vectors, user-reported biases, or changes in operational terminology.
• Partner with domain SMEs to translate real-world constraints into effective features, labels, and model requirements
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and foundation models and recommend their use in mission-relevant applications
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to internal standards, coding practices, and reusable components
• Ensure responsible AI practices, bias evaluation, data governance, model explainability, and ethical use of automated systems
• Prepare demos, prototypes, and proof-of-concept integrations that clearly illustrate feasibility and value

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in applied AI/ML engineering, including production deployments
• Experience with LLMs, fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), prompt engineering, or custom model training
• Experience with vector databases, high-dimensional embeddings, and semantic search
• Experience applying LoRA adapters for efficient fine-tuning of foundation models, including training, evaluation, and integration into production pipelines
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Hugging Face, LangChain, or similar
• Experience building and operating AI/ML systems in air-gapped environments
• Deep understanding of model development: supervised/unsupervised learning, neural networks, transformers, time-series, embeddings
• Familiarity with modern AI/ML ops tooling: MLflow, SageMaker, Vertex AI, Databricks, or equivalent
• Strong understanding of API design, microservices, containers, and CI/CD for ML
• Ability to connect technical solutions to business value and communicate effectively with executives and non-technical stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Azure AI Foundry environments
• Exposure to reinforcement learning or agentic systems
• Experience building real-time or low-latency ML inference systems
• Experience in mission-driven, regulated, or national security-oriented environments (if applicable)
• Strong UI/UX or front-end awareness for integrated model experiences (optional)

What We're Looking For

A senior engineer who is:

• Curious and experimental, but also practical and grounded
• Capable of taking a loosely defined problem and creating a working solution
• Comfortable presenting concepts, demoing prototypes, and explaining tradeoffs
• Passionate about building AI systems that deliver measurable, real-world impact

"From day 1, I knew Atlas Tech was where I wanted to be. Atlas' culture embraces creativeness, community involvement, and taking care of their employees. If you're looking for a great place to work, come join us!" - Blane

"I could not have asked for a better company to transition from Active-Duty military to civilian life. Atlas not only provides opportunities for professional growth, but it's also highly encouraged. The passion and appreciation for what we do that is displayed every day, makes it exciting for me to come to work each day." - Laurence

Atlas Tech is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, or protected veteran status. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and respected.

Accessibility & Accommodations

Atlas Tech strives to make our website, www.atlas-tech.com, accessible to all users. If you need assistance completing the application process or require a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at [e-mail].

This contact information is designated for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of an application. Atlas Tech is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Atlas Tech offers a competitive salary, generous benefits package, and an opportunity to make a positive impact in your own community.