Senior Machine Learning Engineer ( TS/TS/SCI Clearance)

Stott and May; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Stott and May is helping a VC-backed startup recruit for a role building production LLM systems used in national security contexts in McLean, VA. The position requires an active U.S. Secret clearance and involves deploying AI systems in secure environments.

You will design and deploy LLM systems (RAG, embeddings, vector search), build APIs and backend services, and own full stack data pipelines to inference in air-gapped settings.

Qualifications

• Active U.S. Secret clearance is required to be considered.
• Experience deploying ML systems into production.
• Hands-on with LLMs and vector databases.
• Ability to own systems end-to-end in a fast-moving environment.
• Comfortable working in secure environments (air-gapped possible).

Responsibilities

• Designing and deploying LLM systems (RAG, embeddings, vector search).
• Building APIs and backend services for AI-powered applications.
• Working across the full stack from data pipelines to inference.
• Shipping systems into secure, sometimes air-gapped environments.

Skills

Production ML deployment

LLMs

Vector databases

Agentic workflows

End-to-end ownership

Tools

APIs

Backend services

Data pipelines

Vector search

Job description

Active U.S. Secret clearance required to be considered for this role

Working on a high-impact opportunity with a VC-backed start up building AI systems used in real-world national security environments.

You’ll be building and shipping production LLM systems that operate in secure, mission-critical settings.

What you'll be doing:

• Designing and deploying LLM systems (RAG, embeddings, vector search)
• Building APIs and backend services for AI-powered applications
• Working across the full stack from data pipelines to inference
• Shipping systems into secure, sometimes air-gapped environments

What they're looking for:

• Experience deploying ML systems into production
• Hands-on with LLMs, vector databases, or agentic workflows
• Comfortable owning systems end-to-end in a fast-moving environment
• Active U.S. Secret clearance (TS/SCI preferred)
• No Sponsorship provided