Applied AI Engineer
Visionist, Inc.7 days ago
Columbia, MD, USAStaff+
Base Salary
$205k - $280k/yr
Responsibilities
- Lead forward-deployed engagements with mission customers and deliver AI automation solutions from prototype through production.
- Architect and develop agentic AI systems in Python using LLMs, MCP servers, skills, subagents, mission data sources, and operational tools.
- Design autonomous-agent guardrails including scoped permissions, human approval gates, and audit logging.
- Develop evaluation suites with mission users to measure AI accuracy, reliability, failure modes, and deployment readiness.
- Evaluate frontier and open-weight models, frameworks, and AI design patterns and communicate tradeoffs to technical and government leadership.
- Use AI coding agents and establish standards for reviewing, testing, and validating generated code.
- Mentor engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and pairing while leading technical design discussions.
- Communicate project progress, technical risks, and tradeoffs to project leads and government stakeholders.
Requirements
- Active Top Secret (TS/SCI) clearance with polygraph is required.
- Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline, or an additional four years of experience in place of the degree.
- At least 12 years of software development experience.
- Advanced Python proficiency, including production services, APIs, and data pipelines.
- Experience developing LLM applications or agentic systems using tool or function calling, structured outputs, context management, and multi-step workflows.
- Experience working directly with end users or mission customers to translate operational challenges into software solutions.
- Experience designing tests, evaluations, or validation layers for AI or other non-deterministic systems.
- Experience using AI coding assistants or agents such as Claude Code, Codex, or Copilot, including reviewing and validating generated code.
- Technical leadership experience involving design decisions, technical leadership, or mentoring engineers.
- Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, Docker/Kubernetes, and Atlassian tools such as Jira and Confluence.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences.
- U.S. citizenship is required; green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible.
Benefits
- Four weeks of paid time off, 12 paid holidays, comp time, overtime, and flexible work hours.
- Paid parental leave and additional parental-leave support.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage for individuals and families.
- 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions.
- Lifestyle bonus usable for gyms, fitness, technology, or an HSA.
- Term life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.
- Annual merit increases and performance-based bonuses.
- Recruiting process includes a recruiter phone screen and an interview with the Visionist team at the Columbia, Maryland headquarters.
Tech Stack
Categories
AI ApplicationsForward Deployed
About Visionist, Inc.
Visionist, Inc. delivers engineering, software development, and analytical services to U.S. intelligence and defense agencies, often as a prime contractor. Its teams build mission systems and analysis tools spanning AI/ML integration, cyber and network security, digital signal processing, data analytics, and UX for analysts. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Visionist is privately held and 100% employee-owned through an ESOP.