AI/ML Engineering Lead

NeatDevs LLC is a small federal subcontractor with a long-running seat on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program in Ashburn, VA. We are hiring an AI/ML Engineering Lead to direct one or more AI/ML prototyping teams delivering GenAI pilots (including Google Gemini-based solutions) from idea to working software, and to serve as the primary technical point of contact for government stakeholders. U.S. citizenship is required (federal contract); you must be able to obtain a DHS/CBP Public Trust - an active or recent clearance shortens your start date but is not a gate. Hybrid: on-site in Ashburn, VA about one day per week, remote the rest.

What you'll do

• Plan, direct, and coordinate AI/ML engineering work across prototyping teams; shape the pilot portfolio with government stakeholders
• Set technical direction for GenAI solutions: architecture, model selection, RAG and agent design, evaluation approaches
• Lead design and code reviews; stay hands-on enough to unblock the team
• Establish responsible-AI practices aligned with federal AI governance (NIST AI RMF)
• Lead, mentor, and develop AI/ML engineers; run Agile delivery (release/sprint planning, demos, retros)

Required

• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a DHS/CBP Public Trust; must live in the DC/MD/VA area
• Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years leading technical teams and 2+ years leading AI/ML or GenAI efforts
• Deep hands-on background in Python plus at least one of Java/JavaScript/TypeScript; able to review full-stack code (including Angular)
• Proven delivery of LLM/GenAI solutions (RAG, prompt engineering, agents, model evaluation)
• Cloud AI platform experience (Google Cloud and/or AWS)
• Experience briefing senior government stakeholders

Nice to have

• Google Gemini / Vertex AI strongly preferred; AWS Bedrock/SageMaker also valued
• MLOps, GitLab CI/CD, DevSecOps; federal AI governance familiarity
• DHS or law enforcement program experience; PMP, SAFe, or GCP ML Engineer certification

Pay and benefits

$172,000 - $198,000 per year depending on experience and clearance status. Full-time W-2 role with health, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k), paid time off, and paid federal holidays.

NeatDevs LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.