Senior Software Engineer 3 - (Inference, Python, Kubernetes)

Akina Inc; Annapolis, Northern (MD, KY); Hybrid; USD 241,000 - 295,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO 24 days

11 federal holidays

401k with employer contribution 10%

Healthcare costs fully covered

Educational assistance

Job summary

Akina Inc. is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design and maintain AI infrastructure supporting high-quality inference services. You will implement scalable solutions, mentor engineers, and collaborate across teams to deliver robust LLM/inference capabilities for customers.

Role requires leadership and hands-on development with Python, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms, in a fast-paced environment. TS/SCI poly clearance is indicated and compensation is substantial.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of SWE experience in programs/contracts of similar scope and complexity.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline.
• TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph is required or equivalent.
• Experience leading engineering teams and mentoring developers.

Responsibilities

• Lead evaluation, configuration, and deployment of inference models for users.
• Translate stakeholder goals into engineering outcomes.
• Mentor engineers and improve development practices.
• Develop in-house services for high-quality inference.
• Collaborate with teams to provide solid infrastructure for services.
• Support surge efforts for short-term high-priority inference needs.

Skills

Python

Kubernetes

CI/CD

AWS

Mentoring

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

Argo CD

Helm

Docker

Job description

Senior Software Engineer 3 - (Inference, Python, Kubernetes)

• Annapolis Junction, Maryland

Senior Software Engineer 3 - (Inference, Python, Kubernetes)

Clearance: TS/SCI - Polygraph required
Position ID: 20-24-036-SWE3
Location: Annapolis Junction, Maryland

Description

Join us in building the next generation of AI infrastructure that will power innovation across the customer organization. We’re seeking a senior software engineer to support our AI infrastructure team. In this role, you’ll help build and maintain the foundation for customer AI capabilities while supporting a broader ecosystem of AI-enabled applications. Your focus will be ensuring access to the highest available quality LLMs to users throughout the inference software stack. Requirements shift quickly as mission needs evolve and new technologies emerge, so you'll keep sharpening your skills and learning to turn loosely defined problems into working solutions.

• Lead the evaluation, configuration, and deployment of inference models for our users.
• Translate high-level stakeholder goals into engineering outcomes.
• Mentor engineers and grow development best practices and standards for the team.
• Develop in-house services and techniques to guarantee continual high-quality inference service for our customer.
• Engage with other teams in our organization to establish solid infrastructure for our services and integrate LLM-powered tools for user needs.
• Collaborate with teammates on surge efforts to support short-term, high-priority inference needs from our customer.

Position Required Skills

• Experience with Python and/or other modern programming languages.
• Experience with Argo CD and/or other CI/CD frameworks.
• Experience with Kubernetes/Helm.
• Experience with AWS or other cloud service providers.
• Strong communication skills and ability to mentor other engineers.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance hands-on engineering with leadership and coordination responsibilities.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with vLLM, LiteLLM, or similar inference-serving frameworks.
• Experience with other LLM hosting frameworks and practices.
• Experience supporting production software using Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) best practices.
• Experience with Elastic, Grafana/Prometheus, or other observability frameworks and practices.
• Experience with Docker and containerization.
• Experience in traffic shaping and quality-of-service engineering.
• Knowledge of and interest in hosting AI capabilities.

SWE3 Qualifications

A minimum of twelve (12) years of experience as a SWE in programs and contracts of similar scope, type, and complexity is required. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline from an accredited college or university is required. Four (4) years of additional SWE experience on projects with similar software processes may be substituted for a bachelor's degree.

Salary Range: $241k-$295k (Annually)

The range displayed above is a likely salary range for this position. This is not, however, a guarantee of compensation or salary. Rather, salary will be set based on experience, geographic location and possible contractual requirements and could fall outside of this range.

Akina is a Woman Owned, Service Disabled, Veteran Owned, Small Business, looking for talented and ambitious individuals to join our team. We offer a generous compensation package that includes 24 days PTO accrued annually and 11 federal holidays. Our 401k is 100% vested on your start date and the company makes a direct contribution worth 10% of your salary. Akina covers 100% of healthcare costs for employees and 50% toward dependents. We offer educational assistance towards college classes and will cover costs associated with job related training and certifications.

Akina is committed to excellence and creating innovative and flexible solutions for our clients. We are a small company with an open ear to our employees' needs in order to attract and retain quality talent that enables our customer's mission.

We are an equal employment opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.