Applied AI/Machine Learning Engineer

Oddball is hiring an Applied AI / Machine Learning Engineer to design, build, and deploy AI-powered capabilities that work in production. This hybrid role is based in McLean, VA, with occasional in-office collaboration for candidates in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia). You will move ideas from experimentation and prototyping through evaluation, iteration, and integration into real systems.

What you’ll do

• Design, develop, and deploy machine learning and AI-powered features into production systems
• Apply supervised, unsupervised, and deep learning techniques to structured and unstructured data
• Build and evaluate models for classification, ranking, prediction, NLP, and anomaly detection
• Develop and integrate GenAI solutions, including LLM-based workflows, retrieval-augmented generation, and agents
• Translate business and user needs into ML problem statements, metrics, and experiments
• Create data pipelines and feature engineering workflows that support training and inference
• Evaluate performance, bias, drift, and reliability, then iterate based on results
• Partner with software engineers to integrate models into APIs, services, and user-facing applications
• Contribute to architecture decisions covering model serving, scalability, and cost optimization
• Document approaches, assumptions, and tradeoffs to support maintainability and knowledge sharing

What you’ll bring

• Strong foundation in machine learning concepts, including model selection, training, validation, and evaluation
• Experience building and deploying ML models in real-world applications
• Proficiency in Python and common ML libraries such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and scikit-learn
• Experience with large language models, embeddings, and prompt-driven systems
• Familiarity with data processing tools and workflows such as Pandas, SQL, Spark, or similar
• Understanding of software engineering best practices including version control, testing, and code reviews
• Ability to reason about tradeoffs between accuracy, latency, cost, and maintainability
• Strong communication skills and comfort working in cross-functional teams
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Nice to have

• Experience working in innovation, R&D, labs, or exploratory engineering teams
• Experience deploying models to cloud platforms and managing inference at scale
• Familiarity with MLOps practices such as model monitoring, CI/CD for ML, and experiment tracking
• Experience contributing to architectural discussions or technical strategy

Tools you may use

Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, LLM-based workflows, retrieval-augmented generation, Pandas, SQL, Spark, APIs, services.

Compensation and location

Location: Hybrid remote in McLean, VA 22102. Candidates must be located in the DMV area and able to participate in occasional in-office collaboration.

Pay: $150,000 - $200,000 per year (United States wage range). Job type: Full-time.

Authorization to work / security clearance

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. In alignment with federal contract requirements, certain roles may also require U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a federal background investigation and/or a security clearance.

Benefits

• Annual stipend
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Company Match 401(k) plan
• Flexible PTO and Paid Holidays
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching