AI/ML Engineer

540 is seeking an AI/ML Engineer to support a mission-critical technology modernization effort for the Department of War. You will design, build, and maintain production AI/ML services and infrastructure that enable teams to develop, deploy, monitor, and scale models supporting complex defense missions.

Working with software engineers, data engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity teams, and mission stakeholders, you will build reusable ML capabilities and automated pipelines using modern software engineering and MLOps practices. The ideal candidate enjoys solving complex engineering challenges and building secure, reliable AI/ML systems that directly support mission outcomes.

• Location : Arlington, VA
• Citizenship & Clearance Requirement : Per client requirements, candidates must be U.S. Citizens with an active DoW Secret (or higher) clearance
• Education Requirement: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent combinations of education and relevant experience will be considered
• 540 Internal Thrive Level: Software Engineer II or III

WHY 540?

540 is a forward-thinking company that the government turns to in order to #getshitdone. We don’t just talk about innovation – we deliver it. We break down barriers, build impactful technology, and solve mission-critical problems.

HOW YOU’LL DRIVE IMPACT

Design, build, and maintain AI/ML services, products, and lifecycle capabilities supporting WDP

Develop automated pipelines for model training, validation, testing, deployment, and monitoring

Create reusable frameworks, libraries, and shared components that accelerate AI/ML development

Build model-serving capabilities supporting secure, scalable, and reliable batch or real-time inference

Implement MLOps practices using CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing, and source control

Develop model monitoring, performance tracking, drift detection, and operational health capabilities

Support model explainability, reproducibility, governance, and lifecycle traceability

Manage model versions, artifacts, datasets, and feature-engineering workflows

Optimize AI/ML services and infrastructure for performance, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency

Collaborate with data engineers and data scientists to prepare data and operationalize models

Partner with cybersecurity teams to implement security, access-control, auditing, and governance requirements

Troubleshoot issues spanning models, applications, data pipelines, infrastructure, and production services

Document AI/ML architectures, engineering processes, and operational procedures

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

4+ years of relevant AI/ML engineering, software engineering, or data science experience

Experience developing and deploying production-grade AI or machine learning systems

Proficiency with Python and commonly used AI/ML frameworks

Experience building automated model training, validation, deployment, and monitoring pipelines

Experience with MLOps platforms, practices, and tools

Experience deploying models in cloud-based or containerized environments

Experience developing APIs, microservices, or model-serving capabilities for batch or real-time inference

Understanding of model evaluation, performance monitoring, drift detection, explainability, and governance

Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, or similar containerization and orchestration technologies

Experience with CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing, and source control

Experience working within AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud

Familiarity with data pipelines, feature engineering, distributed data processing, and data versioning

Ability to troubleshoot issues across applications, infrastructure, data, and machine learning systems

Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to document and explain technical decisions

NICE TO HAVE

Experience supporting DoW, federal, Advana, or other enterprise AI/ML and data platforms

Experience with AWS SageMaker or comparable cloud AI/ML platforms

Experience with MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow, Argo Workflows, Ray, Feast, or similar tools

Experience building AI/ML solutions in secure, regulated, classified, or mission-critical environments

Familiarity with large language models, generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation, or foundation-model operations

Experience implementing responsible AI, model-risk-management, or AI-governance practices

Currently holds, or is willing to obtain within 30 days of employment, an approved certification such as CCSP, CFR, FITSP-M, GSEC, Security+, or SSCP

BENEFITS & PERKS

Flexible PTO + all Federal holidays off

Health, dental and vision insurance plans

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

401k with employer match

Company-sponsored life insurance, short- and long-term disability

Professional development (training, certifications, conferences)

Paid cloud developer accounts

Referral bonuses

HQ office perks (parking / metro reimbursement, nitro coffee & lunches)

Annual social events (540 Week, hackathon, charity golf tournament, etc.)

Access to 540’s Washington Capitals & Nationals tickets

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO)

540's policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.