Machine Learning Engineer, SME

VTG • Mclean, VA

2d

About The Position

VTG is seeking a highly skilled Machine Learning Engineer SME to support the development, evaluation, and deployment of advanced AI and ML solutions, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs). The role involves model development, fine-tuning, benchmarking, and performance evaluation using modern AI frameworks, cloud technologies, and scalable computing architectures.

The engineer will develop mission-focused AI/ML solutions, including applications for semantic search, information retrieval, and natural language processing. The role also involves translating operational needs into AI-enabled solutions, communicating model performance and insights, and following modern software development and version-control practices. The candidate may act independently as a technical lead and trusted advisor for AI/ML initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related technical field; a Master's degree or Ph.D. is preferred.
• Demonstrated professional or academic experience developing and tuning machine learning, deep learning, and LLM-based solutions.
• Proficiency in Python and/or R for machine learning and data analytics.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Keras.
• Strong SQL expertise, including Common Table Expressions (CTEs), set operations, aggregate functions, and nested subqueries.
• Experience with version-control tools such as GitHub and Jenkins.
• Experience using GPUs and high-performance computing environments for AI/ML workloads.
• Hands-on experience testing, validating, and evaluating AI systems, particularly LLM-based applications.
• Experience designing and executing experiments to benchmark model performance.
• Ability to obtain and maintain any required government security clearance.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently as a technical lead and trusted advisor in AI/ML initiatives.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with the Hugging Face Transformers ecosystem and model hub.
• Experience developing benchmarks and evaluation frameworks for measuring LLM performance.
• Knowledge of cloud-based AI/ML architectures and development environments.
• Experience with web application development frameworks such as Flask.
• Experience building solutions for text classification, topic modeling, or natural language processing.
• Experience developing semantic search applications and retrieval solutions.
• Experience creating data visualizations and dashboards using Tableau.
• Familiarity with Scikit-Learn and traditional machine learning techniques alongside deep learning methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, fine-tune, and optimize machine learning and deep learning models, including LLMs, for mission-focused use cases.
• Develop AI/ML pipelines and perform data preprocessing, feature engineering, model training, and performance evaluation.
• Benchmark, test, validate, and experiment with AI systems, particularly LLM-based solutions.
• Build and evaluate model ensembles and identify suitable algorithms, frameworks, and Python libraries for specific applications.
• Use GPU-accelerated computing environments to improve model training and inference performance.
• Develop applications for semantic search, information retrieval, and natural language processing.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate operational requirements into AI-enabled solutions.
• Create visualizations, dashboards, and reports to communicate model performance and insights.
• Maintain code repositories and apply software development best practices using modern version-control systems.

What This Job Offers

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