Lead AI Engineer

We are seeking a Lead AI Engineer to join our team at GDIT, working on a large-scale, pioneering National Intelligence program. This is an incredible opportunity to immerse yourself into an environment that fuses innovation, speed, and security to safeguard our Nation.

As a Lead AI Engineer, you will serve as the innovation and technical AI lead across a six–Task Order (TO) software-development IDIQ portfolio. Operating within the Program Management Office (PMO) and reporting directly to the Solution Architect, you will be responsible for:

• Rationalizing and optimizing the solution portfolio
• Guiding AI/ML and automation insertion across multiple TOs
• Driving continuous improvement in delivery processes and technical solutions
• Leading selection of AI models based on use case and performance requirements, including model optimization and tuning
• Exploring use of open-weight/open-source models to reduce token consumption across the program and TOs
• Collaborating with customer on adoption of new and emerging AI capabilities
• Ensuring cost, schedule, and performance objectives are met across completion-based task orders

Key Responsibilities

• Portfolio-Level AI Leadership

• Develop and maintain an AI/ML strategy for the six–Task Order IDIQ portfolio, aligned with enterprise architecture and program objectives.
• Assess current systems and capabilities to identify opportunities for AI-driven enhancements, cost savings, and performance improvements.
• Rationalize overlapping solutions and tools across task orders, driving reuse, common services, and standardized approaches to AI/ML.

• AI Insertion & Technical Execution

• Architect and guide the design, development, integration, and deployment of AI/ML solutions (e.g., predictive analytics, NLP, recommendation engines, intelligent automation) into existing and new applications.
• Leverage GDIT enterprise accelerators,including ALAMO, Coral, and SDAF,to rapidly design, prototype, and operationalize AI capabilities across the portfolio.

• Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Drive continuous improvement across the portfolio by introducing modern engineering practices (MLOps, DevSecOps, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing, observability).
• Lead proof-of-concept and rapid prototyping efforts to validate new AI capabilities before scaling.

• Legacy Transition & Modernization

• Lead technical planning and execution for transitioning legacy systems and workflows to modern architectures, including cloud-native and AI-enabled platforms.

• Cost, Schedule, and Performance Management

• Support PMO and Solution Architect in estimating AI-related work, defining scope, and planning for cost-effective delivery.

• Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Work closely with TO leads, software engineers, data engineers, business analysts, and UX teams to integrate AI into end-to-end solutions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or related field; or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering and/or AI/ML engineering.
• Proven experience designing, developing, and deploying AI/ML solutions in production environments.
• Hands-on experience with common AI/ML frameworks and tools (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Transformers, spaCy, Hugging Face, etc.).
• Strong proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, Java, C#, or similar).
• Experience with cloud platforms and services (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and data pipelines for AI/ML workloads.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in a relevant technical field.
• Experience supporting government or regulated industry customers under IDIQ or similar contract vehicles.
• Background in MLOps and observability for AI systems (model monitoring, drift detection, logging, metrics).

Benefits

Our benefits package for all US-based employees includes a variety of medical plan options, some with Health Savings Accounts, dental plan options, a vision plan, and a 401(k) plan offering the ability to contribute both pre and post-tax dollars up to the IRS annual limits and receive a company match. To encourage work/life balance, GDIT offers employees full flex work weeks where possible and a variety of paid time off plans, including vacation, sick and personal time, holidays, paid parental, military, bereavement and jury duty leave.