Junior Software Engineer – Inference with Security Clearance

We’re seeking a software engineer to support our AI infrastructure team at Columbia, MD. In this role, you’ll help build and maintain the foundation for customer AI capabilities while supporting a broader ecosystem of AI-enabled applications. Responsibilities: * Procure, configure, and test new inference models, preparing them for release to our user base. * Develop in-house services and techniques to guarantee continual high-quality inference service for our customer. * Work with model vendor teams and representatives to create reliable pipelines for closed-source model usage. * Collaborate with teammates on surge efforts to support short-term, high-priority inference needs from our customer. * Engage with other teams in our organization to establish solid infrastructure for our services and integrate LLM-powered tools for user needs. Required Skills: * Experience with Python and/or other modern programming languages. * Familiarity with Argo CD and/or other CI/CD frameworks. * Experience with Kubernetes/Helm. * Familiarity with AWS or other cloud service providers. * Ability to learn new technologies quickly. * Strong communication skills and willingness to ask questions. Nice to Have: * Experience with vLLM, LiteLLM, or similar inference-serving frameworks. * Experience with other LLM hosting frameworks and practices. * Experience supporting production software using Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) best practices. * Experience with Elastic, Grafana/Prometheus, or other observability frameworks and practices. * Experience with Docker and containerization. * Experience in traffic shaping and quality-of-service engineering. * Knowledge of and interest in hosting AI capabilities. Experience Required: 3 years with Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline or 7 years without degree Location: Columbia, MD Clearance: TS/SCI with Polygraph required Salary Range: $138,000 - $163,000