AI Developer
The AI Developer at Confidential Client is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining data pipelines, knowledge bases, and AI components that support secure AI-enabled applications for U.S. Government clients. This hybrid role involves developing Python services, integrating large language models, automating AI deployments, and providing technical support to end users, ensuring compliance with government security and operational standards.
About Careertakes
👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, IT (Government Technology Services).
Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain data ingestion, transformation, and processing pipelines (ETL/ELT) that prepare structured and unstructured content for AI workloads.
- Build knowledge bases for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), including document chunking, embeddings, vector indexing, and scheduled refresh processes.
- Implement Python services, APIs, and Large Language Model (LLM) integrations: prompt templates, structured outputs, and agentic workflow components under senior engineering guidance.
- Create and maintain CI/CD and model-lifecycle pipelines with automated unit tests, security scans, and Test, Evaluation, Verification and Validation (TEVV) gates across environments.
- Curate, validate, and version datasets; maintain metadata, lineage, and data-quality checks; apply PII masking and data-minimization controls.
- Write unit and integration tests, support model and retrieval evaluation, and document defects and outcomes.
- Monitor pipelines, ingestion jobs, and vector indexes; troubleshoot failures and support root-cause analysis and incident response.
- Provide helpdesk/application support for AI application users: ticket triage, troubleshooting, escalation, and clear communication with non-technical stakeholders.
- Prepare user manuals, job aids, and technical documentation; keep code, prompts, and configurations in approved repositories with full traceability.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Information Systems, or a related field plus 1+ year relevant experience (equivalent experience may substitute for degree).
- 1+ year of hands-on software development experience in Python.
- Experience building data pipelines or data processing jobs and working with SQL and relational or NoSQL databases.
- Hands-on exposure to Generative AI (LLM APIs, embeddings, vector databases, or RAG) through work, internships, or substantial projects.
- Familiarity with a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud), Git, and CI/CD tooling.
- Experience providing technical or application support to end users, including ticket triage and clear written and verbal communication.
- Must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).
- Must reside in or near Johnson City, TN and be able to work on-site as required.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation.
Preferred Qualifications
- 3+ years of software or data engineering experience, ideally supporting federal agency programs or regulated environments.
- Direct experience with RAG frameworks, vector stores, and embeddings pipelines.
- Experience with document processing (OCR, PDF parsing), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and MLOps tools.
- Experience with IT service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira Service Management) or ITIL Foundation certification.
- Generative AI or ML certifications (e.g., Azure AI, AWS, Google Cloud, Databricks, NVIDIA).
- Prior Public Trust or federal background investigation is a plus.
Work Location & Clearance
- This is a hybrid position requiring approximately 3 days per week on-site in Johnson City, TN. Candidates must be eligible for and able to obtain a Public Trust background investigation.
- Employment requires U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency.
About the Confidential Client
Our confidential client is an IT services organization that delivers secure digital platforms, infrastructure, and operational technology services to government customers. They focus on cloud and hybrid infrastructure, platform engineering, security operations and compliance, application modernization, and data platforms & analytics — all with an emphasis on operational rigor and mission-focused delivery.
Benefits & Perks
- Comprehensive health benefits: medical, dental, and vision.
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HSA).
- Retirement plan with employer match and potential discretionary year-end match.
- Paid Time Off: accrual-based PTO, paid holidays, and paid training days.
- Short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance, and critical illness insurance.
- Paid parental leave and paid jury duty.
- Training and development opportunities, wellness incentives, and discount programs.
- Employee referral program, awards and recognition, and charitable donation matching.
Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency
Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.
If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.
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