AI Engineer - Entry to Expert Level

At the US National Security Agency/Central Security Service, this role focuses on designing and implementing mission-critical AI systems that support intelligence collection, processing, and reporting. You will help build, deploy, and maintain AI capabilities across the full lifecycle, from training and infrastructure through deployment, performance monitoring, and continuous optimization.

This position is based in Fort Meade, MD (onsite), supporting critical national security work. The salary range is USD 87,362 - 197,200 per year, with pay level determined by education and relevant experience.

What you will do

• Lead or contribute to cross-functional teams to develop and operationalize AI solutions for challenging, mission-focused problems.
• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain end-to-end AI workflows covering model training, inference, and performance monitoring.
• Adapt and integrate AI model architectures including computer vision systems, natural language processing, audio/speech processing, large language models (LLMs), and multi-modal frameworks.
• Monitor and maintain AI products by identifying performance degradation and computational inefficiency, then apply regular fine-tuning to maintain alignment with evolving mission and organizational needs.
• Stay current with AI research and incorporate emerging techniques into intelligence applications.
• Test and evaluate AI solutions against mission requirements and provide actionable recommendations.

Entry and experience levels

• Entry: For Computer Science or Engineering, an Associate’s degree plus 2 years of relevant experience, or a Bachelor’s degree with no experience, or a Master’s degree with no experience.
• Entry: For Information Systems, Information Technology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Applied Statistics, Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or Physical/Biological Sciences, an Associate’s degree plus 3 years, or a Bachelor’s degree plus 1 year.
• Full Performance: For Computer Science or Engineering, Associate’s + 5 years, or Bachelor’s + 3 years, or Master’s + 1 year, or Doctoral + no experience.
• Full Performance: For Information Systems, Information Technology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Applied Statistics, Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or Physical/Biological Sciences, Associate’s + 5 years, or Bachelor’s + 3 years, or Master’s + 1 year, or Doctoral + 1 year.
• Senior: Associate’s + 8 years, or Bachelor’s + 6 years, or Master’s + 4 years, or Doctoral + 2 years.
• Senior: Degree must be in one of the listed fields for Senior qualification.
• Expert: Associate’s + 11 years, or Bachelor’s + 9 years, or Master’s + 7 years, or Doctoral + 5 years.
• Expert: Degree must be in one of the listed fields for Expert qualification.
• Expert: Relevant experience must include three or more from: implementing production scale AI/ML solutions; distributed model training; distributed AI/ML systems; AI/ML performance monitoring; platform engineering; cloud engineering; developing deep learning models; sustaining/maintaining AI/ML models; implementing AI/ML algorithms; AI/ML model development and deployment; DevOps; MLOps; cloud infrastructure management; software engineering; automated testing; or containerization.
• Expert: Additionally, you must have experience serving as an AI Project Team Leader/model owner.
• Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Technologies you may use

• Frameworks and languages: PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, Python, C++, Java, Scala, TypeScript
• Data and distributed processing: SQL, NoSQL, Spark, Dask, Ray
• Cloud, containers, and orchestration: AWS, Azure, GCP, Docker, Kubernetes
• Collaboration tools: Git

Pay, schedule, and appointment details

• Appointment type: Permanent
• Federal service type: Excepted Service
• Pay scale & grade: GG 7 - 15
• Work schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, with an 8-hour/day requirement between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (flexible)
• Travel: Occasional travel may be expected
• Relocation expenses: Reimbursed if you qualify under agency policy
• Telework/remote: Telework eligible: No; Remote job: No

Security and compliance

• Security clearance: Top Secret
• Position sensitivity: Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk; background check type: National security
• Drug testing: All applicants and employees are subject to random drug testing in accordance with Executive Order 12564.
• Financial disclosure: Required
• Drug test: No (as listed in overview); random drug testing still applies per the requirement statement

How you will be evaluated

• Specialized skills in deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX)
• Experience with model training, fine-tuning, and optimization techniques
• Experience with computer vision, NLP, speech/audio processing, and/or multi-modal AI systems
• Experience with large language models (LLMs) and transformer architectures
• Experience in model evaluation, validation, and performance monitoring
• Experience with transfer learning and domain adaptation
• Programming skills including Python and other relevant languages (C++, Java, Scala, TypeScript)
• Version control and collaborative development using Git
• Experience with API design and microservices architecture, software testing frameworks, and CI/CD pipelines, plus containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with data processing frameworks (Spark, Dask, Ray), feature engineering and data preprocessing
• Experience with production model deployment and serving infrastructure, monitoring/logging/observability tools
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and/or HPC systems, distributed computing/parallel processing, GPU optimization and resource management
• Experience with cross-function collaboration and communication, plus technical documentation and presentation
• Ability to translate mission requirements into technical solutions

Eligibility and application

• Open to: the public
• Also open to: U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
• How to apply: https://apply.intelligencecareers.gov/job-description/1262729

NSA provides a comprehensive benefits package. Agency contact: 1-844-424-4737 or [email protected].