AI/ML Engineer

Veteran Firm Seeking an AI/ML Software Engineer for a Remote (with 2 initial days Onsite) Assignment in Annapolis, MD.

My name is Stephen Hrutka. I lead a Veteran-Owned management consulting firm in Washington, DC. We specialize in Technical and Cleared Recruiting for the Department of Defense (DoD), the Intelligence Community (IC), and other advanced defense agencies.

At HRUCKUS, we support fellow Veteran-Owned businesses by helping them recruit for positions across organizations such as the VA, SBA, HHS, DARPA, and other leading-edge R&D-focused defense agencies.

We seek to fill an AI/ML Software Engineer role in Annapolis, MD.

The ideal candidate is an Annapolis, MD resident with 3 years of experience in data science, applied AI development, and software engineering, alongside a Bachelor's degree in a related field. Strongly preferred skills include LLM collaboration, RAG systems, and Python proficiency.

If you’re interested, I'll gladly provide more details about the role and further discuss your qualifications.

Thanks,

Stephen M Hrutka

Principal Consultant

www.hruckus.com

Executive Summary: HRUCKUS is looking for an experienced AI/ML Software Engineer to build software tools that incorporate AI/ML techniques to automate narrowly defined tasks with high accuracy, assist internal users with their job functions, and improve the experience external users have when interacting with the Maryland Judiciary.

Position Description: Designing and building software systems that integrate AI/ML techniques to automate tasks, assist internal users, and improve user-facing services within hybrid cloud environments.

Position Responsibilities:

• Work within established constraints regarding infrastructure, programming languages, and model selection.
• Contribute to technical decision-making related to data processing, retrieval strategies, and system integration.
• Collaborate with team members to define agent architectures, workflows, and system design decisions.
• Evaluate and select appropriate approaches for given tasks, including determining when to use LLM-based versus non-LLM techniques.
• Assist in the design and implementation of testing and evaluation pipelines for AI/ML systems.
• Develop unit and integration tests for AI-enabled workflows and data pipelines.
• Generate and utilize synthetic data to support evaluation and benchmarking efforts.
• Support deployment of AI/ML applications within a hybrid cloud environment, working with containerized applications.
• Optimize systems for environments with limited computational resources, including minimal GPU availability.
• Deliver production-grade systems aligned with defined requirements, documenting system designs, workflows, and technical decisions.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or Mathematics, or a related field.
• 3 years of experience in data science, machine learning, or applied AI development.
• 3 years of experience in software engineering, architecture, or web development.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with SQL and relational database systems (e.g., PostgreSQL).
• Experience fine-tuning small language models or embedding models.
• Experience with graph databases or graph extensions (e.g., Neo4j, Apache AGE).
• Experience designing and implementing multi-agent or task-oriented AI systems.
• Experience with embedding models, vector similarity, re-ranking, and graph retrieval techniques in RAG systems.
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker) in service-oriented architectures.
• Experience collaborating with large language models (LLMs), including both API-based integration and local deployment.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Python, including the ability to develop production-grade backend services, APIs, middleware, and data pipelines.