AI/ML Engineering Director Fellow

FAS • Washington, DC

91d • $164,000 - $164,000

About The Position

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Talent Hub is seeking an Impact Fellow for a 24 month term to join the Department of Information Technology within a state government. The Gubernatorial Administration has an ambitious vision to become a national leader in the responsible and productive use of artificial intelligence. Guided by the state’s AI Roadmap, the Governor’s office aims to harness AI to improve government services, making them more responsive, efficient, and impactful. State agencies are eager to explore how AI can improve public services and deliver better outcomes for residents. To turn that momentum into impact, the state is interested in building the technical capacity and modernizing the systems needed to move from ideas to implementation. To achieve this goal, the state is collaborating with FAS to recruit an AI/ML Engineering Director who will lead high-impact projects, expand technical capacity, and help drive the use of AI to modernize public services. The position will support innovation across workforce systems and help position the state as a national model in the innovation economy.

Requirements

• 5 - 7 years of engineering leadership, preferably mentoring and growing engineering teams to design/build/ship AI systems.
• Exceptional ability to build strong relationships with cross-functional peers in Design, Legal, Product, and other diverse disciplines.
• Deep knowledge of the end-to-end AI product lifecycle, from user research to continuous improvement and monitoring.
• Hands-on experience defining and implementing robust frameworks for system orchestration, continuous evaluation, and post-deployment monitoring.
• A holistic approach to building AI, valuing its ethics and impact as much as its accuracy.

Nice To Haves

• A track record building and launching AI systems in highly regulated industries, including the government and healthcare.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical strategy, delivery, and capacity-building to expand the state’s ability to develop and scale AI solutions.
• Identify areas where state-led AI experimentation can have the greatest impact.
• Identify systemic barriers that slow the adoption of AI tools across state government.
• Develop technical, policy, and talent solutions to remove barriers and accelerate the implementation of AI projects.
• Evaluate, prototype, implement, and optimize AI/ML systems to ensure they are production-ready, scalable, and high-performing.
• Lead and/or support high-impact AI deployments in priority areas.
• Champion an AI/MLOps strategy for the State AI product lifecycle.
• Build longer-term capacity by establishing practices that enable sustained AI adoption.

Benefits

• Salary of $164,000 per year.
• Flexible working environment with hybrid or remote options.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees