Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Engineer 1

Akina, Inc. is hiring an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Engineer 1 to design, build, and transition AI/ML capabilities into production. In this onsite role in Annapolis Junction, MD, you will work across model development, evaluation, and cloud deployment, with a strong emphasis on language models and scalable environments.

Role overview

• Design, create, test, and productize AI/ML algorithms to address business challenges and customer requirements.
• Work across model architecture, data pipeline interaction, and metrics application, interpretation, and presentation.
• Build, train, and fine-tune machine learning models, particularly language models.
• Apply best practices for training, tuning, and optimization, including iterative improvement through training, retraining, deploying, scheduling, and monitoring.
• Lead system performance improvement by designing and implementing solutions for benchmarking, evaluation, and diagnostics.
• Perform error analysis, debugging, and model diagnostics to support quality and reliability.
• Integrate machine learning models into production environments and ensure seamless interaction with other systems.
• Contribute to full-stack development for AI model-based applications, including front-end and back-end components.
• Collaborate with software engineers to build scalable and efficient deployment pipelines.
• Partner with data scientists, product teams, and engineers to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Document workflows, model design processes, and technical specifications.
• Select appropriate datasets, perform statistical analysis, run machine learning algorithms, and use results to improve models.
• Run standard test and evaluation protocols and provide system integration oversight.
• Support AI-related efforts as a primary POC, including potentially leading geographically diverse teams.

Cloud and tooling

• Deploy and scale models using AWS SageMaker and other AWS tools, including Lambda, EC2, and S3.
• Work with cloud-based AI platforms to manage the training and operational lifecycle of models, including retraining when needed.
• Use model evaluation, optimization, and performance monitoring practices alongside deployment pipelines.
• Support model versioning and management using tools such as MLFlow or Git.
• Use containerization and GPU-related technologies, including Deep Learning Containers (DLC) and Kubernetes.

Required qualifications

• Two (2) years experience in applied machine learning in programs and contracts of similar scope, type, and complexity.
• A B.S. degree in advanced math (e.g., calculus, linear algebra, or Bayesian statistics), computer science, or a related STEM discipline from an accredited college or university.
• Three (3) additional years of machine learning experience on projects with similar machine learning processes may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree.

Required technical and domain knowledge

• Knowledge and experience with language models, including Marian and multi-lingual model development.
• Knowledge of computational linguistics.
• Experience with open-source model libraries.
• Optimization and tuning experience.
• Strong programming experience in Java, C, and C++.
• Strong proficiency in AI/ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Hugging Face.
• Hands-on experience with AWS tools including SageMaker, Lambda, EC2, and S3.
• Experience developing full-stack software applications using technologies such as JavaScript, Python, and Java.
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and system design.
• Extensive experience in machine learning model development, including NLP.
• Experience with model evaluation, optimization, and performance monitoring.
• Familiarity with containerization tools such as Kubernetes.

Technologies

• Marian, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face
• AWS SageMaker, AWS Lambda, AWS EC2, AWS S3
• MLFlow, Git, Kubernetes
• Deep Learning Containers (DLC), GPU technologies
• Java, C, C++, JavaScript, Python
• NLP, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Benefits

• 24 days PTO accrued annually
• 11 federal holidays
• 401k is 100% vested on your start date
• Company direct contribution worth 10% of your salary
• Akina covers 100% of healthcare costs for employees; 50% toward dependents
• Educational assistance toward college classes
• Training and certification costs for job-related needs

Security clearance

• TS/SCI - Polygraph required within 7 years

Desired skills

• Willingness to support occasional on-call duties
• Experience in a government or defense-related environment
• Experience with secure data handling and compliance requirements
• Experience working with LLMs

Location and salary

• Location: Annapolis Junction, MD (onsite)
• Salary: USD 170,000 - 208,000 per year
• The displayed range is likely based on experience, geographic location, and possible contractual requirements; actual compensation may fall outside this range.