Senior AI Engineer

Senior AI Engineer Federal Government Program

12 Month Contract + 2 x 12 Month Extension Options
ACT Location Hybrid Working (3 Days Office, 2 Days WFH)
NV1 Clearance Required
September 2026 Start

We are seeking an experienced Senior AI Engineer (EL1 equivalent) to join a large federal government technology program focused on delivering secure, scalable and governed Artificial Intelligence solutions.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the forefront of AI innovation, developing enterprise-grade AI capabilities that improve business outcomes, strengthen cyber security objectives and support responsible AI adoption within a highly regulated environment.

About the Role

As the Senior AI Engineer, you will design, develop and implement modern AI solutions using Microsoft Azure technologies and agentic AI frameworks. Working closely with business stakeholders, architects, cyber security specialists and data teams, you will deliver AI-enabled services that align with governance, security and compliance requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and deploy AI solutions using Azure AI services and Microsoft technologies.
• Build and maintain AI agents, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions and workflow automation capabilities.
• Develop intuitive front-end experiences that maximise user adoption and business value.
• Create and support APIs, integrations and microservices connecting AI platforms with enterprise systems and external data sources.
• Design and implement vector search, document intelligence and data ingestion pipelines.
• Conduct testing, evaluation and validation activities to ensure AI solution accuracy, reliability and performance.
• Perform AI assurance activities including model evaluation, explainability, bias testing, prompt injection testing and adversarial assessments.
• Implement security, privacy and governance controls aligned with responsible AI principles.
• Support AI governance processes including use case registration, assessment and assurance activities.
• Produce technical designs, architecture documentation, operational procedures and knowledge transfer materials.
• Partner with business stakeholders to identify and deliver high-value AI opportunities.

Key Deliverables

• Production-ready AI and agentic solutions.
• Enterprise AI integrations with business systems and data sources.
• AI governance and assurance artefacts.
• Technical documentation and operational support procedures.
• AI performance, evaluation and testing reports.Knowledge transfer and capability uplift across internal teams.

Essential Skills & Experience AI Engineering

• Strong development experience in Python and/or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Hands-on experience with:
  • Azure AI Foundry
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Copilot Studio
  • AI Agents and agent orchestration frameworks
• Experience with:
  • Prompt engineering
  • Tool and function calling
  • Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
  • Vector databases and semantic search
• Experience using AI evaluation frameworks to assess accuracy, hallucinations, safety and bias.
• Experience performing AI red teaming, adversarial testing and prompt injection assessments.

Backend & Integration

• API development using FastAPI, .NET and/or Node.js.
• Microservices architecture and workflow orchestration.
• Integration of AI solutions with enterprise applications, databases and external systems.

Governance & Stakeholder Engagement

• Strong understanding of AI governance, responsible AI principles, security and privacy requirements.
• Experience working within government or highly regulated environments.
• Ability to engage stakeholders, translate business requirements into practical AI use cases and deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Excellent communication, documentation and collaboration skills.

What's Needed to Succeed

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Proven experience delivering enterprise AI solutions using Microsoft AI technologies.
• Strong expertise building and deploying AI agents and RAG solutions.
• Experience integrating AI platforms with complex enterprise environments.
• Knowledge of AI assurance, governance and security best practices.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and communication capabilities.

Security Requirements

• Must be an Australian Citizen.
• Must hold Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) Security Clearance.
• Police Check required.

ManpowerGroup is committed to being a Diversity Confident Recruiter and encourages applications from people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including people with a disability. Please indicate your preferred method of communication in your resume and please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments should you be contacted for an interview.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply.