FTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc. · 3 months ago
Distinguished AI/ML Engineering Lead
United States
Full-time
Remote
Lead/Staff
10+ years expFTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc. delivers mission-focused solutions to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. They are seeking a Distinguished AI/ML Engineering Lead to design, build, and sustain AI systems that transform complex mission data into trusted insights, while providing technical leadership and mentorship.
AerospaceInformation TechnologyMilitaryProduct Design
No H1B
Security Clearance RequiredU.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Architect and integrate hybrid AI systems that combine traditional machine learning, deep learning, large language models (LLMs), and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines
Design and deploy scalable AI architectures including APIs, microservices, and model-serving frameworks that integrate seamlessly with analytic, simulation, or operational systems
Lead the full AI/ML lifecycle — from data ingestion and feature engineering through training, deployment, and sustainment within secure DoD environments (IL5/IL6, ATO, GovCloud)
Engineer event-driven data pipelines and feature stores for both structured and unstructured data, including text, imagery, and simulation outputs
Ensure Responsible AI practices by embedding traceability, explainability, and confidence scoring into deployed systems
Implement and maintain MLOps pipelines (MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow, Docker/Kubernetes) to support continuous integration, retraining, and drift detection
Transition R&D prototypes into production, optimizing for mission constraints such as limited compute, edge environments, or disconnected operations
Provide technical leadership and mentorship, setting standards for model quality, architectural design, and ethical AI deployment across programs
Collaborate across engineering, data, and modeling teams to unify FTI’s AI portfolio, ensuring interoperability and reuse across mission systems
Support proposal and solution development, providing technical inputs for AI/ML architectures, data strategies, and Responsible AI assurance frameworks
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
10+ years of overall experience in AI/ML development
5+ years designing and deploying scalable AI/ML architectures
At least two full lifecycle implementations (from prototype to operational system)
Proficiency in Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and modern ML frameworks
Experience designing or deploying systems using vector databases (Milvus, Pinecone, Weaviate), knowledge graphs, and semantic search frameworks
Proven ability to design event-driven data pipelines using Databricks, Spark, Flink, or Kafka
Demonstrated experience deploying AI/ML systems in secure, classified, or edge environments
Familiarity with Responsible AI and assurance principles, including bias detection, explainability, human-machine teaming, and hallucination prevention
Active Secret clearance required
Preferred
Master's or Ph.D. preferred
Experience integrating AI models into simulation, modeling, or operational planning systems is highly desirable
Experience transitioning R&D systems into accredited production environments
TS/SCI strongly preferred
Strong communication and mentoring skills, with the ability to lead technically while remaining deeply hands-on
Company
FTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc.
FTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc. - provides the technology and deep data expertise to drive the best defense and intelligence solutions.
501-1000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Ron Shroder
CEO / Chairman of the Board
Tom Batty
Director, Special Projects reporting to CEO
Recent News
2025-11-24
Washington Technology
2025-11-11
Company data provided by crunchbase