Full Stack AI Developer

LLNL•Livermore, CA

10h•$146,340 - $222,564•Hybrid

About The Position

We have an opening for a Full Stack AI Developer to help design, build, and support LLNL’s Enterprise Search and LivChat platforms. LivChat is LLNL’s first AI‑powered conversational assistant, and our group operates multiple AI platforms that deliver secure, scalable, natural‑language access to information and tools across the Laboratory. As part of the Digital Experience and Search group, you will work in a modern, product‑oriented environment that values teamwork, good engineering practices, experimentation, and continuous improvement. You will turn cutting‑edge AI capabilities into intuitive, high‑impact applications used daily across LLNL. Our team is responsible for mission‑critical services, provides strong mentorship and technical growth opportunities, and plays a central role in shaping how staff discover, access, and interact with information. This position is in the Digital Experience and Search group within the Information Technology Solutions Division in the Computing Directorate, in support of the LivIT program. This position offers a hybrid schedule, blending in-person and virtual presence. You will have the flexibility to work from home one or more days per week. This position will be filled at either level based on knowledge and related experience as assessed by the hiring team. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if hired at the higher level.

Requirements

Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.
Bachelor’s degree in a computer or engineering related field, or the equivalent combination of education and related experience.
Broad experience with DML and/or DDL as they relate to one or more relational database management systems (e.g., Oracle, MySQL).
In-depth knowledge of current trends and best practices in web architecture and design in one or more of the following areas: performance, accessibility, UI/UX design, prototyping, scalability, compliance, and/or usability.
Broad experience with ML models in the areas of text and image analysis.
Experience with software development lifecycle, version controls and issue tracking tools.
Ability to own projects from beginning to end. This covers research, technical design, and working with others to develop needed components.
Able to effectively manage concurrent technical tasks with competing priorities, approach difficult problems with enthusiasm and creativity and ability to change focus when necessary.
Proficient verbal and written communication skills necessary to effectively collaborate in a team environment and present and explain technical information and provide advice to management.

Nice To Haves

Significant experience developing and optimizing data processing workflows—including chunking, indexing, ingestion, and vectorization—for text and/or non-text data.
Significant experience implementing and maintaining auto-tagging systems and data/or preparation processes to enhance Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) effectiveness and support accurate, context-aware responses in GenAI applications.
Advanced knowledge in leveraging prompting techniques to develop, test, and optimize prompts for large language models (LLMs), ensuring high model performance, response quality, and accuracy across various use cases.

Responsibilities

Provide software application engineering and maintenance for all phases of the software development lifecycle, including analysis, design, implementation, automated testing and support. This includes both frontend and backend development for all aspects of our search and LivChat environments.
Leverage Elasticsearch, Java, Angular, TypeScript, Node.js, python and other technologies in the support of various facets of the Lab’s enterprise search and LivChat applications including crawling, indexing, query tuning, report building, and updating the search APIs and User Interfaces.
Create and update CI/CD pipelines to build and test new features and applications.
Deploy software following an agile design methodology to be secure, free of vulnerabilities, and componentized for ease of maintenance.
Provide analysis and innovative methods to enhance and extend the product services to customers.
Provide knowledge sharing with team members and/or mentoring in application design and business processes.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Lead technical direction and architecture for key aspects of the Enterprise Search and LivChat platforms, making decisions on cross-cutting capabilities that impact multiple programs and mission areas across the Laboratory.
Serve as the primary technical point of contact for Enterprise Search and LivChat, coordinating roadmaps and dependencies across organizations and representing the group on internal technical or advisory committees to advance LivIT and Laboratory information access objectives.
Drive the adoption of advanced engineering and AI best practices, including scalable, secure-by-design architectures and MLOps/LLMOps techniques, while mentoring developers and guiding project teams so that technical advancements in search and conversational AI have impact beyond the immediate products.