AI/ML Lead Engineer

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At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what's possible.

Job Description:

Parsons is looking for an amazingly talented AI/ML Lead Engineer to join our team

What You'll Be Doing:

• Define technical architecture for ML systems (data pipelines, model training/inference, deployment)
• Select and justify use of specific tools, frameworks, and compute environments (e.g., AWS GovCloud, Azure Gov, on-prem secure clusters)
• Ensure compliance with federal IT/security standards (FedRAMP, NIST, DoD STIGs, etc.)
• Lead development of supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement learning models for mission-specific applications (e.g., predictive analytics, NLP, computer vision, anomaly detection)
• Ensure explainability and transparency — important for federal accountability (e.g., use SHAP, LIME, or interpretable ML techniques)
• Implement bias detection and model fairness checks
• Oversee or design secure ETL pipelines, data labeling workflows, and data quality processes
• Handle classified or sensitive data under strict data governance and privacy rules
• Work with structured/unstructured data from various government sources
• Lead the buildout of CI/CD for ML models — containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), model versioning, automated retraining
• Deploy models in secure enclaves or cloud environments that comply with government security posture
• Monitor production systems and implement performance tracking, drift detection, and retraining triggers

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical field and 8+ years of experience
• Proven experience designing, training, and deploying machine learning and deep learning systems at scale
• Knowledge of classical ML, neural networks, NLP, computer vision, and statistical modeling
• Ability to choose and justify architectures (transformers, CNNs, LSTMs, etc.) based on mission needs
• Understanding of AI model interpretability, bias mitigation, and model validation under federal ethics and transparency mandates
• Deep familiarity with building production-grade ML pipelines (CI/CD, data versioning, automated retraining)
• Experience with secure cloud (AWS GovCloud, Azure Gov, DoD Cloud IL levels) or on-prem HPC
• Understanding of containerization, orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes), and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible)
• Expertise in secure data pipelines, ETL, and data quality controls for sensitive or classified datasets
• Knowledge of metadata management, data cataloging, and data lineage — crucial for auditability
• Familiarity with federal data privacy frameworks and compliance (FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST
• Active TS/SCI clearance and be eligible for a Polygraph

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• Active TS/SCI with Polygraph

Security Clearance Requirement:

An active Top Secret SCI security clearance is required for this position.This position is part of our Federal Solutions team.The Federal Solutions segment delivers resources to our US government customers that ensure the success of missions around the globe. Our intelligent employees drive the state of the art as they provide services and solutions in the areas of defense, security, intelligence, infrastructure, and environmental. We promote a culture of excellence and close-knit teams that take pride in delivering, protecting, and sustaining our nation's most critical assets, from Earth to cyberspace. Throughout the company, our people are anticipating what's next to deliver the solutions our customers need now.Salary Range: $108, $190,200.00We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), 401(k), life insurance, flexible work schedules, and holidays to fit your busy lifestyleParsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.We truly invest and care about our employee's wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars Imagine next and join the Parsons quest—APPLY TODAY

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