Intelligent Automation & Agentic AI Developer

Idaho National Laboratory • Idaho Falls, ID

1d • $95,256 - $234,336 • Onsite

About The Position

This role focuses on designing, building, and maintaining advanced automation solutions that leverage Large Language Models (LLMs), tool use, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The developer will create agentic workflows to automate complex business and analytical processes, develop RPA solutions using Power Automate and its AI extensions, and build RAG pipelines integrating enterprise data with vector stores. The position also involves building front-end interfaces, applying prompt engineering and security best practices, deploying and monitoring automation components, participating in code reviews, supporting existing solutions, contributing to project planning, and collaborating with security and governance teams. Continuous learning in AI and RPA technologies is expected, along with adherence to safety and quality standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• Level 3: Bachelor’s and 5 years of experience, Master’s and 2 years, or PhD and 2 years.
• Level 4: Bachelor’s and 9 years of experience, Master’s and 6 years, or PhD and 4 years.
• 1+ years building agentic AI solutions and integrating AI capabilities into automation workflows (professional or substantial project experience considered).
• Proficiency in Python for building agentic applications, including experience with common libraries used in the AI/ML ecosystem.
• Proficiency in React (including modern patterns such as hooks and functional components) for building front-end interfaces that support agentic and automation solutions.
• Experience building with LLM APIs (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI/Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, or equivalent) and unified LLM gateways such as LiteLLM, including function/tool calling and structured outputs.
• Experience implementing RAG solutions with a vector database such as Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, Chroma, pgvector, or Azure AI Search.
• Working knowledge of REST APIs, OAuth 2.0, Git, and CI/CD workflows.
• Containerization experience (Docker) and basic Kubernetes literacy.
• Experience working with non-technical partners and translating business needs into technical solutions.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy "L" clearance, which requires US Citizenship.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with TypeScript, modern build tooling (Vite, Next.js), and component libraries (shadcn/ui, Material UI, or similar).
• 2+ years of RPA development experience with Power Automate, Blue Prism, or Automation Anywhere.
• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) for connecting agents to tools and data sources.
• Hands-on experience with at least one agentic framework such as LangGraph, LangChain, Microsoft Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, or CrewAI.
• Experience deploying local or self-hosted models (Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp) for environments with data residency, air-gap, or classification requirements.
• Experience with prompt engineering patterns (ReAct, chain-of-thought, few-shot, self-consistency) and lightweight fine-tuning approaches (LoRA/PEFT).
• Familiarity with event-driven architectures and message queues (Azure Service Bus, Kafka, or similar).
• Experience with multi-agent orchestration patterns and advanced retrieval approaches such as GraphRAG or hybrid search with re-ranking.
• Prior experience in a regulated, high-security, or national laboratory environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and build multi-step agentic workflows that combine LLMs, tool use, retrieval, and RPA bots to automate complex business and analytical processes.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain RPA solutions using Power Automate, including its AI-native extensions (Copilot Studio, AI Builder).
• Build and maintain Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines that integrate INL enterprise data sources with vector stores and embedding models.
• Consume Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to connect AI agents with internal systems and data in a secure, reusable way.
• Build front-end interfaces (chat UIs, admin dashboards, human-in-the-loop review tools) for agentic solutions using React.
• Apply prompt engineering, guardrails, and human-in-the-loop patterns to mitigate prompt injection, hallucination, data leakage, and other AI-specific risks.
• Deploy and monitor automation components including bots, agents, MCP servers, code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, and supporting scripts.
• Review source code, technical documentation, user reports, and other artifacts; participate in code reviews and contribute to libraries of reusable components.
• Support and troubleshoot existing RPA, agentic AI, and PowerApp solutions when issues arise.
• Contribute to project planning by helping estimate scope, cost, and schedule for assigned work.
• Partner with security, compliance, and data governance teams to ensure agentic and RPA solutions meet DOE and INL data handling, cybersecurity, and audit requirements.
• Remain current on agentic AI, RPA, and process automation technology and best practices.
• Ensure compliance with INL's safety, security, environmental, health, and quality assurance requirements.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Flexible Spending Accounts
• 401(k) with a 4.2% employer contribution and up to 4.8% match (regular positions) or self-contribute access (postdoctoral positions)
• Paid time off (personal leave)
• Employee Education Program (tuition assistance for eligible positions)
• Comprehensive Relocation Package

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level