Hybrid | Member of Technical Staff, Forward Deployed (US Gov) — $40–$60/hour

24-Mag•Washington D.C., WA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This full-time role builds and deploys mission-critical AI systems for U.S. Government environments. The position spans applied AI research, engineering, infrastructure, and forward-deployed implementation. The successful candidate will work directly with government partners to translate operational requirements into secure, reliable technical systems, owning work from discovery and architecture through production deployment, security, reliability, and iteration. The role involves developing production-grade LLM applications and agentic systems, building data and ML infrastructure, and deploying systems in distributed, high-security, and mission-critical environments. It requires independent technical and operational ownership, collaboration with technical, operational, and government stakeholders, and the ability to adapt as mission needs and technical constraints evolve. Work may combine research-oriented experimentation with production systems. The position is offered through 24-MAG LLC, which connects professionals with consulting opportunities. The engagement is hybrid in Washington, D.C., with compensation of $40–$60 per hour.

Requirements

Strong Python engineering skills with demonstrated end-to-end technical ownership.
Experience building production applications using LLMs.
Hands-on experience creating agentic or multi-agent AI systems.
Experience building or maintaining data pipelines or machine-learning infrastructure.
Familiarity with distributed systems and production deployment.
Comfort operating in high-security, high-reliability, or mission-critical environments.
Ability to work independently in ambiguous, partner-facing situations.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to reinforcement-learning workflows or simulation environments.
Active U.S. security clearance; candidates eligible and willing to obtain one may also be considered.
Experience supporting U.S. Government, defence, intelligence, or national-security missions.
Experience at a startup, defence organisation, government-focused technology company, or comparable fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

Build and deploy applied AI systems supporting U.S. Government missions.
Work directly with government partners in forward-deployed environments.
Translate mission requirements and operational constraints into practical technical systems.
Take projects from prototype and experimentation through production deployment.
Maintain technical and operational ownership in ambiguous, partner-facing environments.
Design and integrate production-grade LLM applications.
Build multi-agent systems and tool-using AI agents.
Develop retrieval-augmented generation workflows.
Implement human-in-the-loop autonomy where appropriate.
Turn mission data, models, and tools into reliable operational AI capabilities.
Build and maintain large-scale data curation pipelines.
Develop evaluation infrastructure supporting model training and improvement.
Create systems for model inference, experimentation, evaluation, and deployment.
Support scalable data and ML workflows across frontier AI platforms.
Maintain reliable infrastructure as mission and model requirements change.
Own systems across discovery, architecture, implementation, deployment, and iteration.
Design for reliability, security, and operational resilience.
Work across distributed and mission-critical technical environments.
Diagnose system failures and improve performance across the production lifecycle.
Apply engineering judgment to infrastructure and deployment trade-offs.
Operate independently in high-security and high-reliability environments.
Collaborate with technical, operational, and government stakeholders.
Maintain ownership of systems beyond initial implementation.
Adapt as mission requirements, partner needs, and technical constraints evolve.
Balance development speed with security, reliability, and operational effectiveness.