Senior AI Software Engineer with Security Clearance

Overview Join a team where innovation meets mission. Our AI, cloud, cyber, and modernization solutions save agencies thousands of hours, safeguard national security, and strengthen health and humanitarian missions worldwide. With 1,700+ team members, 1,500+ AI/data experts, and 100+ prime contracts, we deliver at scale and with purpose. We've been recognized as a Top Workplace by the Washington Post for six straight years and named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies 13 of the past 14 years. Credence is a welcoming home for those looking to grow and contribute to positive change. We encourage all employees to expand beyond their boundaries, dive into important world-changing Federal challenges. Position Summary Credence has an immediate need for a Senior AI Software Engineer to join our growing AI and Automation practice. In this role, you will serve as a senior technical contributor responsible for designing, developing, and deploying advanced AI-driven solutions, including generative AI, LLM-powered applications, and agentic AI systems. You will collaborate with cross-functional engineering, data, cloud, and stakeholder teams to deliver scalable, secure, and mission-focused AI capabilities for federal clients, while helping guide technical direction, strengthen engineering practices, and mentor other engineers. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the duties listed below * Generative AI & LLM Solution Delivery Lead the design, development, prototyping, and refinement of AI-powered capabilities using generative AI, large language models, retrieval patterns, prompt/context engineering, and secure API integrations.
* Agentic AI System Development Own end-to-end agentic AI development lifecycles, including model selection, agent design, tool/function calling, orchestration, response synthesis, evaluation, and deployment of reliable AI agents.
* Senior Software Engineering Leadership Apply strong software engineering principles to design maintainable, testable, and scalable systems; conduct code reviews, establish technical patterns, and leverage AI-assisted development tools responsibly to accelerate delivery.
* Cross-Functional Technical Collaboration Partner with data engineers, software engineers, data scientists, cloud engineers, and mission stakeholders to translate business and mission needs into operational AI and automation solutions.
* Cloud Enablement & DevSecOps Integration Design and automate deployment workflows using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), CI/CD pipelines, containers, and cloud-native services to support secure, repeatable, and scalable AI delivery.
* Production Monitoring & Optimization Monitor AI systems post-deployment, perform performance tuning, and apply best practices for reliability and scalability.
* Technical Rigor & Documentation Write clean, well-documented code following industry and federal guidelines; support reproducible development.
* Technical Mentorship & Continuous Improvement Stay current on emerging AI/ML trends, agentic frameworks, model capabilities, and engineering practices while mentoring team members and contributing to reusable standards, documentation, and technical design reviews. Requirements What You Bring * Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related field.
* 7+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, including significant experience delivering AI/ML, generative AI, or LLM-powered solutions in production or production-like environments.
* Experience building generative AI applications, working with LLMs, implementing tool/function calling, and applying model evaluation, prompt/context engineering, or retrieval-augmented generation approaches.
* Experience designing or implementing agentic AI solutions using frameworks or platforms such as Agent2Agent Protocol, Bedrock Agents, Mastra, CrewAI, Strands, AgentCore, LangChain, or LangGraph.
* Strong understanding of leading AI APIs and model platforms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI.
* Proficiency in TypeScript and familiarity with key libraries and frameworks such as Nx, Next.js, Mastra, Vercel AI SDK, Playwright, Jest, and Vite.
* Python proficiency and familiarity with libraries and frameworks (uv, Pydantic, FastAPI, CrewAI, LangChain, LangGraph, Unstructured).
* Demonstrated curiosity and practical experimentation with emerging AI technologies, with a strong focus on responsible innovation and measurable mission impact.
* Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI)
* Experience with VS Code and AI extensions such as Cline and Claude Code.
* Strong communication skills and client-oriented mindset.
* U.S. Citizenship with eligibility for DoD Secret clearance.
Preferred * Curious and experimental about the latest innovations in AI with an orientation toward the relentless pursuit of delivering mission impact.
* Exposure to adjacent skillsets such as data engineering, data science, UI/UX, cloud engineering, and platform engineering to understand the entire software ecosystem.
* Experience with IaC tools such as Terraform, Open Tofu, AWS CDK, or CloudFormation to deploy cloud native applications.
* Knowledge of federal cybersecurity, RMF, FedRAMP, or regulatory frameworks.
Why This Role Matters * Real-World Impact - Your work will support defense and health agencies where AI solutions directly contribute to national security and public well-being.
* Growth-Oriented Technical Leadership - Work with technical leaders, shape agentic AI delivery practices, and mentor team members while continuing to deepen your own expertise in advanced AI engineering.
* Culture of Empowerment - You'll be part of a team that values innovation, trust, collaboration, and mission success. Salary Range: $155,000 - $200,000 annually. Actual compensation will be determined based on the selected candidate's experience, education, certifications, skills, and overall qualifications. Benefits * Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
* Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
* Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
* Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
* Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
* Short Term & Long Term Disability
* Training & Development
* Wellness Resources