Applied AI Engineer

Description

Active Top Secret (TS/SCI) clearance with polygraph is required. 

Visionist has an exciting new, fully FUNDED opportunity for an Applied AI Engineer on our largest PRIME contract. Our team of Analysts and Engineers is motivated by the direct impact on the mission, crafting specialized tools for enhanced efficiency and quick iterations for our operations user base. Seeing your tools in real-time action brings immediate gratification. This premier program encompasses traditional software services including Systems Design and Engineering, Database Administration, Data Science and Knowledge Management, Enterprise Risk Management, Integration and Test, as well as Operations and Systems Support. The program is characterized by innovation and excitement, fostering meaningful engagements, and offering distinctive collaboration opportunities with users, policy makers, and mission leadership, all while maintaining a service mindset. If you thrive in a collaborative work environment and enjoy utilizing a diverse tech stack, then this opportunity is tailor-made for you!

For over 16 years, Visionist has been solving the Intelligence Community's toughest software and analysis challenges. We embed small engineering teams with analysts to rapidly identify and solve mission capability gaps playing a critical role in defending our nation’s cyber infrastructure & providing expertise in malware analysis, attribution, mapping adversarial infrastructure, pen testing, and operational planning. Our open-door leadership team fosters a supportive culture, where internal growth and promotion opportunities are the norm. Don’t just take our word for it—check out our 4.8-star review on Glassdoor. Join a company that feels like a family with regular happy hours, baseball games, activity clubs and more. Check us out at www.visionistinc.com.    

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Your contributions are… 
  - Lead forward-deployed engagements with mission customers, working directly with operators and analysts to identify opportunities for AI-driven automation and deliver solutions from prototype through production
  - Architect and develop agentic AI systems in Python, integrating LLMs, MCP servers, Skills, and subagents with mission data sources and operational tools
  - Design guardrails for autonomous agents, including scoped permissions, human approval gates, and audit logging to ensure safe interactions with operational systems
  - Develop evaluation suites alongside mission users to measure the accuracy, reliability, and failure modes of AI capabilities and assess readiness for deployment
  - Evaluate frontier and open-weight models, frameworks, and AI design patterns for mission applications, communicating findings and tradeoffs to technical and government leadership
  - Utilize AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, while establishing team standards for reviewing, testing, and validating AI-generated code
  - Mentor engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and pairing while leading technical design discussions
  - Communicate project progress, technical risks, and tradeoffs to project leads and government stakeholders

Requirements for your new career…
  - Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline. (Additional 4 years of experience may substitute degree)
  - 12 or more years of experience in software development
  - Advanced Python proficiency, including experience developing production services, APIs, and data pipelines
  - Experience developing LLM applications or agentic systems using tool/function calling, structured outputs, context management, and multi-step workflows
  - Experience working directly with end users or mission customers to translate complex operational challenges into delivered software solutions
  - Experience designing tests, evaluations, or validation layers for AI or other non-deterministic systems
  - Experience using AI coding assistants or agents, such as Claude Code, Codex, or Copilot, for code generation, refactoring, and debugging, including reviewing and validating generated code
  - Technical leadership experience, including leading design decisions, serving as a technical lead, or mentoring engineers
  - Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines (GitLab preferred), Docker/Kubernetes, and Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence)
  - Strong written and verbal communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences

Benefits of becoming a Visionist: Your New Career
  - Annual merit increases & performance-based bonuses
  - 4 weeks paid time off that is never “use or lose”, 12 paid holidays, comp time, overtime, AND flexible work hours
  - 80 hours of paid parental leave with an additional $8,000 supplemental payment upon returning from maternity
  - Medical, dental, & vision benefits for both individuals and families (those who waive medical benefits will receive an additional $4,680/year)
  - 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions
  - Annual lifestyle bonus of $600 – use it towards gyms/fitness, new tech, or your HSA!
  - Term life insurance, short-term disability, & long-term disability

Salary range: $205,000 - $280,000
Disclaimer: Salary for this position, along with additional compensation options, will be determined on an individual basis following the interview process, considering various factors such as years of experience, skills, education/certifications, contract specifications, market conditions, etc. 

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Not a good fit? Check out our other opportunities: https://jobs.jobvite.com/visionist

Next steps: Apply online and one of our recruiters will reach out to you. We have a streamlined process of phone screen with a recruiter, interview with a Visionist team at our HQ in Columbia, MD, and that is all!

Interested in learning more about Visionist and the work we do? Check out our website! https://www.visionistinc.com/what-we-do

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U.S citizenship required (green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible). Applicants selected will be required to obtain / maintain a government security clearance. 

Visionist, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity / Protected Veterans / Individuals with Disabilities employer.