Senior Azure AI Solutions Architect / Engineer
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or commensurate experience, and 12 years of experience.
- A Public Trust clearance.
- At least 8 years of progressive experience designing, developing, and implementing enterprise software, cloud, or data solutions.
- At least 5 years of experience serving in senior engineering, technical architecture, cloud architecture, or comparable solution-design roles.
- At least 3 years of hands-on experience designing or implementing AI/ML solutions.
- At least 2 years of recent hands-on experience designing and implementing Generative AI, LLM, and/or RAG-based applications.
- Hands-on experience with the Microsoft Azure AI ecosystem, including Microsoft Foundry/Azure AI Foundry and Azure-hosted foundation models.
- Experience designing and implementing RAG architectures using enterprise data.
- Hands-on experience with Azure AI Search or comparable enterprise semantic/vector search technologies.
- Strong understanding of vector embeddings and vector databases/search, semantic and hybrid search, chunking and document-processing strategies, prompt engineering and context management, grounding and citation/source attribution, LLM orchestration, AI evaluation, and hallucination mitigation.
- Experience integrating LLMs and AI services with enterprise data sources and applications.
- Experience designing and implementing secure REST API and SDK-based integrations.
- Experience with Python and/or Java for enterprise AI/application development.
- Experience with Microsoft Azure architecture, including Entra ID, RBAC, managed identities, Key Vault, networking, storage, monitoring, and logging.
- Ability to design solutions involving sensitive or restricted enterprise information with appropriate data isolation and authorization controls.
- Experience taking at least one enterprise AI/ML solution from architecture or proof-of-concept through production deployment.
- Experience establishing technical architecture while remaining directly involved in hands-on development and troubleshooting.
- Ability to communicate complex AI architecture and technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Experience mentoring developers and transferring technical knowledge to existing engineering teams.
- Lead the architecture, design, development, and implementation of enterprise Generative AI solutions using the Microsoft Azure AI ecosystem.
- Design and implement solutions using Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI/model services, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Document Intelligence, and related Azure capabilities.
- Architect and implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation solutions over enterprise structured and unstructured data.
- Develop AI-assisted enterprise search capabilities to identify relevant documents, pages, data elements, and supporting evidence across large document repositories.
- Develop natural-language question answering, document summarization, information extraction, structured output generation, and AI-assisted research capabilities.
- Design and implement semantic, vector, hybrid, and agentic retrieval approaches suited to business requirements.
- Develop secure integration patterns between Azure AI services and existing enterprise applications, APIs, databases, and document repositories.
- Integrate AI functionality into existing enterprise applications through REST APIs, SDKs, Java services, and other approved integration patterns.
- Evaluate and implement Azure AI Document Intelligence for document classification, metadata/data extraction, confidence scoring, and exception handling.
- Design AI agents and orchestration workflows using Microsoft Foundry capabilities when appropriate.
- Partner with application, IBM FileNet, and IBM DataCap technical teams to introduce AI capabilities while leveraging existing enterprise platforms and investments.
- Design solutions that preserve application-level authorization and ensure users receive AI-generated information only from data they are authorized to access.
- Implement appropriate Azure identity, access management, secrets management, networking, logging, monitoring, and security controls.
- Establish AI evaluation and testing frameworks measuring retrieval accuracy, extraction accuracy, groundedness, hallucination rates, confidence, latency, performance, and business outcomes.
- Develop and execute technical proofs of concept and MVPs, and transition successful capabilities into secure, scalable production implementations.
- Work with business and technical stakeholders to translate business processes and pain points into actionable AI solutions.
- Evaluate alternative AI technologies and integration approaches and provide technical recommendations based on feasibility, security, cost, scalability, and business value.
- Establish reusable architecture patterns, development standards, and technical documentation for future enterprise AI implementations.
- Mentor existing architects and developers on Azure AI, RAG, LLM integration, prompt engineering, evaluation, and responsible AI development.
- Provide hands-on knowledge transfer so successful AI capabilities can be maintained and expanded by the existing technical organization.
- Candidates located in the DC area are highly preferred.
- Hands-on experience with Azure AI Document Intelligence, including document classification, custom extraction, structured data extraction, confidence scoring, and exception processing.
- Experience building enterprise document intelligence, document search, or knowledge retrieval solutions involving large volumes of unstructured content.
- Experience integrating AI solutions with enterprise content-management systems such as IBM FileNet.
- Experience with IBM DataCap or comparable enterprise document capture and processing platforms.
- Experience integrating AI functionality into existing Java-based enterprise applications.
- Experience with Microsoft Foundry Agent Service and agentic AI architectures.
- Experience with Microsoft Copilot Studio, including agents, connectors, actions, and enterprise workflow integration.
- Experience with Azure DevOps, Git, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, and DevSecOps practices for AI-enabled applications.
- Experience implementing AI evaluation frameworks and automated testing for production LLM applications.
- Experience with document-level/page-level citations, source attribution, and explainable/traceable AI responses.
- Experience implementing human-in-the-loop workflows and confidence-based exception routing.
- Knowledge of responsible AI principles, model governance, data privacy, and AI risk management.
- Experience working with PII, financial, benefits, healthcare, or other regulated/sensitive information.
- Experience delivering solutions within federal government environments, including familiarity with FedRAMP, NIST controls, FISMA, ATO processes, and federal security requirements.
- Experience evaluating AI platforms, models, and services based on cost, performance, security, accuracy, and operational suitability.
- Experience with IBM watsonx or other enterprise AI platforms.
About the company
GovCIO provides IT services and digital solutions to the U.S. federal government, including IT modernization, digital services, data analytics, cybersecurity, DevSecOps, and management consulting. It wins prime federal contracts and delivers a full range of services through its business units—Health and Civilian Agencies, National Security Solutions, and Veteran and Enterprise Technology Solutions—along with GovCIO Media & Research. The company differentiates itself by expanding through strategic investments and acquisitions, such as WCAS’s stake and the Salient CRGT purchase, and by targeting federal health, national security, and civilian agencies under major contract vehicles like VA T4NG2. Its goal is to help the government transform and modernize its IT landscape with mission-critical technology and analytics capabilities.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Washington DC, District of Columbia
Founded
2010
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- GovCIO won DHS USCIS NEON II in December 2025, worth $163.4 million.
- GovCIO won a $389.7 million VA IT support order running through August 2027.
- GovCIO secured Navy NETSAFA RSNF support on March 19, 2026, expanding defense reach.
What critics are saying
- GovCIO lost GAO's IT services recompete to SAIC on January 12, 2026.
- VA concentration exposes revenue; SoldierPoint's CCIN and VHA work depend on agency budgets.
- A VA recompete loss could gut GovCIO's core health IT franchise by 2027.
What makes GovCIO unique
- WCAS-backed GovCIO bought SoldierPoint in September 2025, deepening VA telehealth capabilities.
- GovCIO controls VA's $2 billion CCIN telehealth IDIQ after SoldierPoint acquisition.
- GovCIO's 3,487-person workforce and Salient CRGT heritage support broad federal delivery.
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Company News
US steel startup Hertha Metals has raised $133.65 million in Series A funding, including a $65 million equity investment from the US government. The company plans to produce high-purity iron for domestically manufactured rare earth magnets, which are critical components in F-35 fighter jets and missile guidance systems. The funding comes amid the Trump administration's multi-billion dollar initiative to boost domestic rare earth and magnet production. Hertha Metals' chief executive officer confirmed the company's focus on producing materials for American-made rare earth magnets used in defence applications. The investment reflects growing government support for domestic rare earth supply chains and critical mineral production capabilities.
Hertha Metals secures $133.65M Series A to produce high-purity iron for domestic rare-earth magnets. Series A and federal co-funding will finance Hertha Chalyx, a new plant producing high-purity iron and steel to address the U.S. shortfall for rare-earth magnet manufacturers Molten metal is tapped from a furnace at Hertha Metals. (Photo credit: Hertha Metals) CONROE, Texas-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Hertha Metals, the steel company behind the world's first single-step steel and high-purity iron process for lower-cost domestic production, today announced the close of a $133.65M Series A round, including a $65M equity investment from the U.S. Government, executed through its Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program in partnership with the Economic Defense Unit. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and Doerr Capital, with participation from CEV, Pear Ventures, Gates Frontier, Niterra SUISO no MORI Fund (General Partner: Global Brain), Toyota Ventures and Siemens Financial Services. IBAS is a federal program that funds projects to strengthen and modernize the defense industrial base. The funding will finance the construction of Hertha Chalyx, the company's new facility that plans to produce 10,000 tonnes of steel-grade and magnet-grade high-purity iron. Chalyx, alongside Hertha's pilot plant, Pi100, will be the first modern iron and steel innovation complex, a significant step toward reshoring iron and steel production central to IBAS's industrial base mission. The United States currently imports almost all of the high-purity iron used in rare-earth permanent magnets. NdFeB magnets are made of roughly 70% high-purity iron by weight, yet the U.S. has no domestic production capacity for this essential material. As the U.S.-made magnet push grows with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Hertha Chalyx is establishing domestic production of the high-purity iron that rare-earth magnets need, creating a supply chain that spans mining to manufacturing entirely on American soil. Hertha's Flex-HERS(TM) process replaces the multi-step, coal-dependent blast furnace method with a single continuous reactor that processes any grade of iron ore and uses natural gas or hydrogen as a reductant. The result is iron and steel at 25% lower production costs than conventional blast furnaces, with emissions reductions of 50% using natural gas and up to 98% using hydrogen. "Every electric vehicle, aerospace platform, radar system, and data center depends on domestic iron and magnet feedstock suppliers," said Dr. Laureen Meroueh, CEO and Founder of Hertha Metals. "Hertha Chalyx closes that gap. We are building the supply chain this country needs, and we are doing it by providing a domestic cost-competitive option for manufacturers while unlocking safer and cleaner production." "Hertha has cracked what the steel industry has chased for many decades: iron and steel in one step, below blast-furnace cost, and made in America. That's the missing link for every magnet, EV, data center, and defense platform this country builds," said Rajesh Swaminathan, Partner at Khosla Ventures. "We led their seed round to back this vision and have doubled down at every round since, due to their consistent execution and our strong conviction in the team." "The industrial technologies that win are the ones that are cheaper, cleaner, and better performing," said Ryan Panchadsaram, Partner at Doerr. "Hertha's technology has the potential to produce critical materials at lower cost and with far lower emissions, while deepening essential domestic manufacturing capacity. That's the kind of innovation that can scale and make a real difference." Hertha currently operates a 360-ton-per-year demonstration facility in Conroe, Texas, and is in the active supplier qualification process with major U.S. rare-earth magnet producers. When Hertha Chalyx breaks ground this year, these integrated facilities producing both steel and high-purity iron on a single site will give U.S. magnet and defense manufacturers a source they lack, making Hertha Metals as much a national security asset as an industrial one. About Hertha Metals Hertha Metals is producing steel at lower cost, with ore-grade flexibility, and with significantly reduced emissions than conventional methods, using fully domestic iron ore and natural gas. Hertha is reshoring iron and steel production, enabling more jobs, and providing manufacturers with access to cost-competitive, high-quality steel and iron while meeting sustainability goals. The company partners with steel producers and supplies critical high-purity iron to rare-earth magnet manufacturers, helping secure domestic supply chains and advance American manufacturing competitiveness. For more information, visit herthametals.com.
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The rebranding effort came after GovCIO acquired IT services contractor Salient CRGT in August 2021, creating a combined entity with more than 2,600 employees and $700 million in annual revenues, GovCIO said Thursday.