Apply on Employer Site

FTI Defense - Frontier Technology Inc. · 2 days ago

Distinguished AI/ML Engineering Lead

Dayton, OH

Full-time

Hybrid

Lead/Staff

10+ years exp

Frontier Technology Inc. (FTI) delivers mission-focused solutions to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. They are seeking a Distinguished AI/ML Engineer to serve as a technical leader, architect, and integrator, focusing on designing and deploying AI systems that transform mission data into trusted insights.

AerospaceInformation TechnologyMilitaryProduct Design

Growth Opportunities

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Hiring Manager

Glen Hutchins

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

AI/ML architecture designPython proficiencyMLOps implementationEvent-driven data pipelinesVector databasesResponsible AI principlesAI model integrationCommunication skillsMentoring skillsTechnical leadership

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

Experience transitioning R&D systems into accredited production environments

Active Secret clearance required; TS/SCI strongly preferred

Strong communication and mentoring skills, with the ability to lead technically while remaining deeply hands-on