SME AI Engineer

What’s Upstate; Columbia (MD); On-site; USD 225,000 - 247,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Employer paid health insurance

7% contribution to 401k

Job summary

What’s Upstate is seeking a SME AI Engineer in Columbia, MD, to provide technical advisory support for AI applications. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in designing and evaluating AI-enabled tools, working with frameworks such as LangChain, and ensuring the technical relevance of AI efforts.

This position requires a Bachelor’s degree and 18 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 15 years. A comprehensive benefits package is included with a competitive salary ranging from $225,000 to $247,000.

Qualifications

• 18 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree or 15 years with a Master's.
• Experience designing and evaluating AI-enabled applications.
• Familiarity with modern AI application patterns like LLMs.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical advisory support for AI applications.
• Evaluate architecture and usage patterns of AI models.
• Assist in the development of technical guidance and prototypes.

Skills

Experience with AI/ML-enabled applications

Working knowledge of orchestration frameworks

Familiarity with Python or JavaScript/TypeScript

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, data science, or related field

Master’s degree in relevant field

Tools

LangChain

Haystack

Job description

Assured Information Security (AIS) has an opening for a SME AI Engineer with our Mission Services team. In this role you will provide technical advisory support for the design, evaluation, and advancement of AI‑enabled applications, tools and workflows. This role is intended for a hands‑on technical professional who understands how modern AI systems are built and can help guide teams developing practical solutions using large language models, agentic workflows, orchestration frameworks, and supporting software infrastructure.

What You’ll Do:

• Provide SETA support to government teams developing or assessing AI‑enabled applications and tools.
• Advise on technical approaches for AI application design, prototyping, integration and evaluation.
• Assess solutions involving LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation, tool use, agentic workflows, orchestration layers, prompt pipelines and evaluation harnesses.
• Support the review of architecture, development approaches, model usage patterns, and technical risk areas.
• Advise on AI engineering considerations such as latency, reliability, observability, testability, guardrails, data flow, and system integration.
• Evaluate and compare modern AI frameworks, agentic libraries, and experimentation harnesses for suitability in mission use cases.
• Assist with the development of technical guidance, prototypes, engineering recommendations, and briefings for government stakeholders.
• Support test and evaluation activities for AI tools, including performance assessment, qualitative review, and workflow validation.
• Collaborate with platform engineers, product leads, mission users, and government leadership to ensure AI efforts remain technically grounded and operationally relevant.
• Stay current on rapid changes in the AI ecosystem and provide informed recommendations on emerging tools and practices.

Education / Experience / Skillset Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, data science, or related field with 18 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 15 years of relevant experience.
• Experience designing, building, integrating, or evaluating AI/ML‑enabled applications or software tools.
• Familiarity with modern AI application patterns, including LLM‑based applications, RAG, prompt engineering, agentic systems, and AI‑assisted workflows.
• Working knowledge of one or more agentic or orchestration frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, CrewAI, Haystack, Llamalndex, or similar ecosystems.
• Experience with software development fundamentals, APIs, data handling, and system integration.
• Ability to assess technical tradeoffs and communicate them clearly to both engineers and government stakeholders.

What Sets You Apart:

• Experience with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar languages commonly used in AI application development.
• Familiarity with vector databases, embeddings, model APIs, evaluation frameworks, and agent testing harnesses.
• Exposure to model hosting, inference pipelines, or cloud‑based AI development environments.
• Understanding of secure AI development practices, data protection, and operational constraints in government settings.
• Experience supporting defense, cyber, intelligence, or mission application development.
• Familiarity with human‑in‑the‑loop workflows, AI assurance, and evaluation methodologies.

Clearance Required: TS/SCI w/CI Poly

US Salary Range: $225,000 - $247,000

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on several factors including location, skills, and experience. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package which includes employer paid health insurance and a 7% contribution to your 401k, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation.