Research Engineer I/II/III/IV/V/VI - Washington D.C.

Responsibilities

• Understand Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Model training, fine-tuning, and evaluation.
• Utilize Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering and optimization, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Utilize and incorporate web service APIs.
• Build software using web service APIs.
• Build AI-powered applications (chatbots, copilots, automation tools), design and integrate APIs, design microservices architectures, develop data pipelines and ETL workflows, and understand vector databases.
• Execute model deployment and monitoring.
• Understand SQL and NoSQL databases, data preprocessing and cleaning, and working with structured & unstructured datasets.
• Build AI agents and autonomous workflows, front-end frameworks (React, Next.js), security & privacy in AI systems, and scaling AI products to production.
• Understand embeddings and semantic search.
• Able to work in either AWS or MS cloud.
• Understand how to build and deploy applications into Department of War environments.
• Document technical findings, vulnerability reports, and operational assessments in clear, actionable formats for internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Collaborate with researchers across the AI labs.
• Serve as the co-principal investigator (co-PI) on selected research proposals and funded efforts, supporting technical vision, work plan development, budget inputs, and execution oversight.
• Contribute to technical content for grant proposals, sponsor briefings, and future research opportunities.
• Utilize strong communication and presentation skills.
• Recognize, analyze, and solve a variety of problems.

Qualifications

• Level I: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• Level II: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 2 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles
• Level III: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 4 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles
• Level IV: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 6 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles
• Level V: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 8 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles
• Level VI: Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 10 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

Why Work at Auburn?

Life-Changing Impact: Our work changes lives through research, instruction, and outreach, making a lasting impact on our students, our communities, and the world.

Culture of Excellence: We are committed to leveraging our strengths, resources, collaboration, and innovation as a top employer in higher education.

We’re Here for You: Auburn offers generous benefits, educational opportunities, and a culture of support and work/life balance.

Sweet Home Alabama: The Auburn/Opelika area offers southern charm, vibrant downtown scenes, top-ranked schools, and easy access to Atlanta, Birmingham, and the Gulf of Mexico beaches.

A Place for Everyone: Auburn is committed to fostering an environment where all faculty, staff, and students are welcomed, valued, respected, and engaged.

Equal Opportunity Compliance Statement

It is our policy to provide equal employment and education opportunities for all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable law.