Lead AI Engineer

Job Title: Lead AI Engineer

Job Category: Information Technology

Time Type: Full time

Minimum Clearance Required to Start: Secret

Employee Type: Regular

Percentage of Travel Required: Up to 10%

Type of Travel: Local

* * *

The Opportunity:
We are seeking a system/software engineer to research, design and build Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions.  As part of our team, you will help lay the foundation for future AI/ML initiatives while contributing to broader software development projects.  You will work closely with a small cross-functional team to gather requirements, design, develop, and implement AI-driven features, seamless integrations, and deployment pipelines across a range of AI/ML use cases, including Generative AI.
Responsibilities:
• Forward thinking vision of how RAG can be integrated within a software development lifecycle and business practices, keeping abreast of new developments in RAG, NLP, and related fields.
• Designing and implementing retrieval systems: Creating efficient ways to store and quickly access large amounts of relevant information.
• Implementing safeguards: Developing mechanisms to prevent the system from retrieving or generating inappropriate or harmful content.
• Developing and fine-tuning language models: Working with large language models to optimize their performance for specific tasks and domains.
• Evaluation and testing: Designing and conducting tests to measure the system's accuracy, relevance, and overall performance.
• Integrating retrieval and generation components: Ensuring seamless interaction between the retrieval system and the language model.
• Follow a CACI agile methodology, attending daily standups, refinement sessions, and updating agile project management system to ensure transparency
• Design and implement agentic workflows using supervisor and orchestration patterns with frameworks such as LangGraph, CrewAI, or similar multi-agent orchestration tools
• Establish observability and evaluation pipelines using tools like Langfuse, LangSmith, or similar platforms to monitor, trace, and assess LLM application performance
Qualifications:
Required: 
o Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field.
o 7 years of software development experience with 2-5 years of relevant experience in NLP, machine learning, or AI development
o Experience designing agentic flows using supervisor, routing, and hierarchical patterns with frameworks such as LangGraph or equivalent
o Experience with Linux and Linux based terminals
o Understanding of RAG architecture and principles, experience implementing RAG systems, and familiarity with popular RAG frameworks and tools.
o Knowledge of security best practices for AI systems
o Strong programming skills, particularly in Python, Javascript, rust, golang
o Experience with vector databases, embedding techniques, and data pipelines
o Experience with information retrieval systems
o Experience with RESTful APIs and Cloud Services (AWS, OCI)
o Experience with data preprocessing, normalization, cleaning, encoding data into vector representations
o Knowledge of text analytics and semantic search techniques
o Experience with prompt engineering
o Experience working with multiple teams in an agile environment, with data scientists, UI/UX designers, and subject matter experts to improve the overall system.
o Self-motivated with ability to quickly adapt and learn emerging disciplines and techniques
Desired:

o Active Secret or Top-Secret clearance
o T5 level background investigation (possesses or must be able to obtain)
o Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git)
o Experience with containerization (e.g., Docker)
o Experience with relational databases, including schema design
o Experience implementing observability, tracing, and evaluation frameworks for LLM-based applications
o Understanding of CI/CD pipelines

This position is contingent on funding and may not be filled immediately. However, this position is representative of positions within CACI that are consistently available. Individuals who apply may also be considered for other positions at CACI.

What You Can Expect:

 A culture of integrity.

At CACI, we place character and innovation at the center of everything we do. As a valued team member, you’ll be part of a high-performing group dedicated to our customer’s missions and driven by a higher purpose – to ensure the safety of our nation.

An environment of trust.

CACI values the unique contributions that every employee brings to our company and our customers - every day. You’ll have the autonomy to take the time you need through a unique flexible time off benefit and have access to robust learning resources to make your ambitions a reality.

A focus on continuous growth.

Together, we will advance our nation's most critical missions, build on our lengthy track record of business success, and find opportunities to break new ground — in your career and in our legacy.

Pay Range:

There are a host of factors that can influence final salary including, but not limited to, geographic location, Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates, relevant prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education, and certifications. Our employees value the flexibility at CACI that allows them to balance quality work and their personal lives. We offer competitive compensation, benefits and learning and development opportunities. Our broad and competitive mix of benefits options is designed to support and protect employees and their families. At CACI, you will receive comprehensive benefits such as; healthcare, wellness, financial, retirement, family support, continuing education, and time off benefits.

Since this position can be worked in more than one location, the range shown is the national average for the position.

The proposed salary range for this position is:

$98,500-$206,800

CACI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic.