Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Steampunk is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to help design, build, and deliver production AI systems end to end. This hybrid role in McLean, VA supports mission-focused development across predictive modeling, LLM-powered applications, multi-agent workflows, and RAG pipelines, with an emphasis on strong engineering fundamentals and responsible AI practices.

Role scope

You will work through the full ML lifecycle, from exploratory data analysis and feature engineering to integration, deployment, and ongoing monitoring. The position focuses on shipping scalable AI/ML and generative AI capabilities that integrate with enterprise systems and cloud-native services.

Responsibilities

• Develop end-to-end ML/AI solutions across predictive models, LLM-powered applications, multi-agent workflows, and RAG pipelines using structured and unstructured datasets.
• Conduct exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and data visualization to guide model design and validate assumptions.
• Use deep learning methods and modern libraries and frameworks to build, improve, and iterate models.
• Integrate AI/ML models with enterprise systems, APIs, data platforms, vector databases, and cloud-native services to deliver scalable mission capabilities.
• Design and implement prompt strategies, context management layers, retrieval systems, and LLM orchestration logic.
• Build scalable inference services, optimize model performance, and partner with MLOps/LLMOps to support deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
• Create and execute comprehensive test plans for AI/ML models, including functional, regression, and edge case testing.
• Develop evaluation test cases for performance, accuracy, bias, fairness, and robustness, including adversarial and stress testing to assess resilience.
• Track quality metrics such as precision, recall, F1 score, false positives/false negatives, and usability metrics, and document defects or unexpected behaviors.
• Validate compliance with data privacy, security, and ethical AI standards, including safety guardrails, input sanitization, and content filtering.
• Support an Agile software development lifecycle by contributing reusable AI components, libraries, and APIs.
• Collaborate with product managers, data architects, designers, and mission stakeholders to translate mission needs into reliable AI-powered features.
• Mentor junior developers, perform code reviews, and support engineering excellence across multi-disciplinary AI delivery teams.
• Stay current on emerging AI techniques, libraries, foundation models, and agent frameworks, evaluating fit for client missions.
• Contribute to the growth of Steampunk’s AI & Data Exploitation Practice.

Requirements

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Engineering, or a related scientific/technical discipline.
• 7+ years of total experience.
• 3-5 years of industry experience developing ML/AI solutions, including hands-on experience with generative AI or LLM-driven application development.
• Experience manipulating structured and unstructured data for analysis, including data modeling and data solution development.
• Strong programming skills in Python and modern AI frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, or LlamaIndex.
• Experience implementing RAG architectures, embeddings, vector stores, and context retrieval patterns, plus familiarity with multi-agent orchestration and prompt engineering.
• Demonstrated experience in big data systems including Hadoop and Spark, and additional programming proficiency in SQL, R, Scala, or Java.
• Data visualization skills in Tableau, Power BI, D3, ArcGIS, or similar.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), including compute, serverless services, and security fundamentals for AI workloads, such as AWS SageMaker or Azure HDInsight.
• Working knowledge of containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and CI/CD pipelines for AI-based systems.
• Experience with Git, Bash, and Unix commands, with familiarity with DevSecOps, MLOps, and LLMOps practices for AI/ML delivery.
• Understanding of responsible AI principles including safety, fairness, privacy, bias mitigation, and model risk management.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across engineering, design, and mission domains.
• Proven experience mentoring teammates and raising the technical bar of development teams.
• Familiarity with Flask, Solr, or Elasticsearch is a plus.

Technologies

• Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras
• Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, LlamaIndex
• RAG architectures, embeddings, vector stores, vector databases
• Hadoop, Spark, SQL, R, Scala, Java
• Tableau, Power BI, D3, ArcGIS
• AWS, Azure, GCP, AWS SageMaker, Azure HDInsight
• Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines
• Git, Bash, Unix commands
• DevSecOps, MLOps, LLMOps
• Flask, Solr, Elasticsearch
• APIs, data platforms, cloud-native services

Compensation and application process

• Location: McLean, VA (hybrid).
• Salary range: USD 140,000 - 190,000 per year.
• Steampunk determines salary based on factors including geographic location, contractual requirements, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience.
• Annual salary is one aspect of Steampunk’s total compensation package.
• During the application process, you are expected to be on camera during interviews and assessments.
• Steampunk reserves the right to take your picture to verify identity and prevent fraud.

About Steampunk

Steampunk is a Change Agent in the Federal contracting industry, serving clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors. The company uses a Human-Centered delivery methodology focused on shared accountability to solve mission challenges. Steampunk is an equal opportunity employer and participates in the E-Verify program.