AI/ML Engineering Lead

Position: AI/ML Engineering LeadLocation: Linthicum Heights, Maryland (Local CanWork Arrangement: On-siteLocal Candidates Only: Candidates must currently reside in the local Maryland / DMV area and be able to commute to the worksite. Relocation and remote work are not available.Position OverviewWe are seeking an experienced AI/ML Engineering Lead to lead the architecture, development, implementation, and governance of a shared enterprise AI/ML platform supporting multiple state agencies.The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise in machine learning engineering, MLOps, cloud infrastructure, data engineering, and Generative AI, with a focus on delivering secure, scalable, reliable, and responsible AI/ML solutions in an enterprise environment.Key ResponsibilitiesLead the architecture, development, implementation, and governance of a shared enterprise AI/ML platform.Design and maintain scalable ML engineering and MLOps capabilities.Establish model development, experiment tracking, model registry, deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management processes.Lead the implementation of Generative AI solutions, including LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), prompt engineering, model evaluation, and fine-tuning.Design and oversee data pipelines, feature stores, data quality, lineage, and governance practices.Implement cloud-native infrastructure, containerization, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and GitOps practices.Establish security, reliability, observability, and responsible AI governance standards.Mentor engineering teams and collaborate with stakeholders across multiple agencies.Support compliance with applicable cybersecurity, privacy, and AI risk management requirements.Required Qualifications16+ years of software engineering or data engineering experience, including at least 3 years focused on production ML systems, MLOps, or ML platform engineering.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field. A master's degree is preferred.Experience building or operating shared enterprise AI/ML platforms supporting multiple teams or agencies.Strong proficiency in Python and experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, and Hugging Face.Hands-on experience with MLflow, Kubeflow, Apache Airflow, or equivalent MLOps tools.Experience with AWS SageMaker or comparable AI/ML services on Azure or GCP.Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, model registries, experiment tracking, automated testing, deployment, and monitoring.Strong understanding of LLMs, prompt engineering, RAG architecture, model evaluation, and fine-tuning.Experience with data pipelines, feature stores, data quality, data lineage, and governance.Experience with Terraform or Pulumi and GitOps practices.Demonstrated technical leadership, architecture, mentoring, security, and responsible AI experience.Preferred QualificationsExperience in state government, public sector, or highly regulated environments.Familiarity with FedRAMP, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and applicable cybersecurity and privacy requirements.Experience with responsible AI, model explainability, fairness auditing, bias mitigation, and model risk management.Experience with platform observability, reliability engineering, incident management, disaster recovery, and cloud cost optimization.Work LocationThis is an on-site position based in Linthicum Heights, Maryland.Application InstructionsInterested candidates should submit an updated résumé highlighting relevant AI/ML engineering, MLOps, cloud platform, Generative AI, and technical leadership experience.