Senior AI / Machine Learning Engineer (Public Trust) with Security Clearance

Location: Bethesda, MD (Hybrid) Clearance: Public Trust (Role may require additional background investigations) Employment Type: Full-Time US Citizenship is Required Position Overview: Praescient Analytics is seeking a highly experienced Senior AI/ML Engineer to support a mission-critical federal analytics and artificial intelligence modernization program. This role is responsible for designing, engineering, deploying, and operating production-grade AI and machine learning systems that support real-time decision-making, advanced analytics, and public safety outcomes. The Senior AI/ML Engineer owns the end-to-end machine learning lifecycle, from data ingestion and model development through deployment, monitoring, and governance. This position plays a key role in operationalizing advanced analytics, building scalable MLOps pipelines, and integrating AI capabilities into cloud-native systems within a highly regulated federal environment. Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, train, and optimize machine learning and deep learning models supporting predictive analytics, classification, anomaly detection, NLP, and AI-assisted decision support.
• Apply advanced ML techniques using supervised, unsupervised, and semi-supervised learning approaches.
• Design and implement end-to-end MLOps pipelines supporting model training, validation, versioning, deployment, and rollback.
• Deploy models into production environments using Microsoft Azure ML, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Implement model monitoring, performance tracking, and drift detection to ensure long-term reliability and accuracy.
• Build and maintain AI solutions leveraging Microsoft Azure services, including:
• Azure Machine Learning
• Azure Data Lake Storage
• Azure Synapse Analytics
• Integrate AI/ML solutions with existing data platforms, APIs, and analytics services.
• Optimize AI workloads for cost, performance, and reliability in cloud environments.
• Ensure AI systems adhere to federal standards for responsible AI, transparency, explainability, and auditability.
• Support model documentation, validation artifacts, and compliance reporting.
• Collaborate with governance and stakeholder teams to ensure models are suitable for high-impact decision-making.
• Work closely with data scientists, data engineers, analysts, architects, and Agile project managers in a fast-paced Agile delivery environment.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to shared engineering standards and best practices. Required Qualifications: Experience
• Minimum of 5+ years of experience designing, deploying, and operating production AI/ML systems.
• Demonstrated experience moving models from research or prototype stages into production environments.
• Proven experience supporting AI systems in mission-critical or regulated settings.
• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience supporting federal, public-sector, or other regulated environments. Technical Skills
• Expert proficiency in Python and AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch and/or TensorFlow.
• Strong experience with machine learning libraries including Scikit-learn, NumPy, and Pandas.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure AI/ML services, particularly Azure Machine Learning.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines for ML workflows.
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker) and model deployment patterns.
• Experience with SQL and data integration for ML workloads.
• Proficiency with Git-based version control and collaborative development. Communication & Leadership
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to explain complex AI/ML concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead technical efforts and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams. Clearance: Minimum of a Public Trust (U.S. Citizenship is Required) Preferred Qualifications:
• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.
• Familiarity with AI agents, vector databases, large language models (LLMs), or Copilot-style architectures.
• Azure certifications (AI Engineer, Data Scientist, or related).
• Experience with streaming or near-real-time AI pipelines. What you can expect from us:
• Real opportunity for career growth in an environment where your achievements will be celebrated
• Constant collaboration with numerous teams to ensure client success
• A team that respects and embraces your ideas and expertise
• Coworkers that are motivated by pursuing excellence, rather than the prospect of personal gain
• A workplace dedicated to supporting and bettering public safety and government agencies Benefits:
• Very competitive salary based on qualifications and experience
• Comprehensive, Company paid healthcare for you (We pay your premiums and deductibles)
• 401(k) with company match
• Travel & perfor