Senior Defense AI Leader - Agentic ML & Secure Systems

McKinsey & Company; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 243,000 - 249,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Mental health support

Job summary

McKinsey & Company seeks a senior leader to advance agentic AI and ML for defense clients across public and private sectors. You will partner with client service teams to shape AI assets, ensure security and mission assurance, and scale implementations across classified environments.

You will guide teams through use-case shaping to secure deployment, mentoring QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey practitioners and collaborating with government and industry leaders to deliver measurable impact.

Qualifications

• US Citizenship and an active SECRET clearance are required at time of hire; an active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility is preferred.
• Deep experience in the defense sector with hands-on understanding of data and technology environments (classified and unclassified)
• 7+ years of experience applying data science, advanced analytics, and AI to drive impact in client-facing settings
• Experience designing and scaling modern AI solutions, including agentic AI systems, with cloud fluency
• Demonstrated leadership of multidisciplinary teams across cleared/un-cleared environments
• Willingness to travel 40-80%

Responsibilities

• Lead AI implementation engagements, define aspirations, set technical direction, ensure delivery.
• Architect and lead teams to deliver agentic AI systems from use-case through secure build and deployment.
• Span ML, generative AI, semantic layers, and multi-agent systems with defense-grade standards.
• Provide problem-solving and vision-setting for complex mission needs and lead design workshops with government leaders and industry partners.
• Build scalable, secure AI foundations (data architecture, MLOps, governance, security) for classified contexts.
• Mentor teams of practitioners across the Defense practice and cleared talent pipelines.

Skills

Secret clearance

Defense sector experience

Data science & AI

Leadership

SQL

Python

Cloud platforms

Tools

AWS

Google Cloud

Azure

Job description

McKinsey & Company seeks a senior leader to advance agentic AI and ML for defense clients across public and private sectors. You will partner with client service teams to shape AI assets, ensure security and mission assurance, and scale implementations across classified environments.

You will guide teams through use-case shaping to secure deployment, mentoring QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey practitioners and collaborating with government and industry leaders to deliver measurable impact.