AI/ML Engineer with Security Clearance

Senior AI/ML Engineer
Columbia, MD JOB DESCRIPTION X8 is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to support the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) AI Enterprise capability. Help mission teams transition AI prototypes into secure, governed, enterprise-scale services by engineering production-ready models, agents, and workflows. This role combines advanced Python development, LLM/agent orchestration, model evaluation, and enterprise integration to deliver measurable mission impact in a fast-paced cyber operations environment.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING • Provide embedded mission support, rapid prototyping, and integration of AI/ML-enabled capabilities. • Design LLM and agent orchestration workflows using LangGraph, Agno, NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit, or similar frameworks. • Optimize model gateway routing across frontier and open-weight models for mission fit, performance, and cost. • Develop RAG pipelines, vector databases, and memory services for mission-grounded agent context. • Integrate MCP-based tool brokers for secure agent access to enterprise tools and data. • Build automated model/agent evaluations, benchmarks, monitoring, and performance reporting. • Partner with data scientists and mission analysts to produce research and prototypes. • Implement AI governance guardrails, policy enforcement, safety filters, and approval gates.

WHAT REQUIRED SKILLS YOU'LL BRING • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Data Science, or related discipline with 10+ years of experience; 4 additional years may substitute for a degree. • Active TS/SCI clearance with CI polygraph. • Advanced Python proficiency for AI/ML application development. • Demonstrated experience building or integrating production LLM/agent-based systems. • Hands-on experience with RAG, vector databases, and prompt/context engineering. • Ability to prioritize competing mission requirements and identify/escalate operational risks. • Experience designing, testing, and integrating software capabilities in secure enterprise environments.

WHAT DESIRED SKILLS YOU'LL BRING • Master’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experience. • USCYBERCOM, NSA, DoD cyber operations, or related AI mission experience; LangGraph, Agno, NeMo, NVIDIA NIM, vLLM, Ollama, LiteLLM, MCP, AI observability or benchmarking. WHY JOIN X8? • Build mission-relevant AI capabilities for USCYBERCOM. • Help shape a secure enterprise AI platform with high-visibility technical impact. MINIMUM CLEARANCE REQUIRED • Active TS/SCI with CI polygraph required.

COMPENSATION • $200,000+ (depending on education and experience) • Bonus potential • 401K Match – 10% • Paid time off – 24 PTO Days, 13 Holidays • Medical Benefits – 100% Employee, 80% Dependent, $1000 company paid HSA Contribution