Senior AI Systems Architect

Position Overview

The Senior AI Systems Architect leads the design of enterprise AI ecosystems and reusable AI services within the client's AI Enablement Center, enabling AI-as-a-Service capabilities across multiple applications and operational environments. The role combines enterprise architecture, AI engineering, cloud modernization, cybersecurity, and mission operations expertise to deliver scalable, secure, and governable AI solutions aligned with operational requirements and federal AI governance mandates.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Enterprise AI Architecture & Strategy
• Serve as the lead architect for AI and Gen-AI initiatives supporting operational mission requirements across national security customer domains.
• Design and operationalize enterprise AI architectures supporting scalable AI-as-a-Service capabilities across client applications.
• Develop reusable AI frameworks, shared services, and reference architectures aligned with customer enterprise standards and governance models.
• Architect multimodal AI solutions supporting text, image, video, and structured/unstructured data analysis.
• Define enterprise AI integration patterns supporting cloud-native, event-driven, and microservices-based architectures.
• AI/ML & Gen-AI Solution Engineering
• Lead design and deployment of AI/ML and Gen-AI solutions including:
• RAG architectures
• Agentic AI frameworks
• LLM orchestration
• Computer Vision
• Image analysis and object detection
• Anomaly detection
• Predictive analytics
• NLP and summarization services
• Intelligent search and semantic retrieval
• Hallucination mitigation
• Prompt injection prevention
• Prompt leakage controls
• Explainability and traceability
• Responsible AI governance
• Mission Systems Integration & Modernization
• Integrate AI services into operational systems, mission workflows, and enterprise data platforms.
• Architect event-driven data ecosystems leveraging Kafka/MSK, APIs, streaming pipelines, and real-time interoperability frameworks.
• Support modernization of legacy systems and data platforms into scalable cloud-native AI-enabled architectures.
• Design interoperable data frameworks leveraging NIEM, WCO, JSON/REST APIs, and other federal interoperability standards.
• Enable AI integration across structured and unstructured mission datasets including operational intelligence, targeting data, image repositories, and external partner feeds.
• Cloud, MLOps & DevSecOps
• Architect secure AI environments leveraging AWS and Google cloud ecosystems including:
• Amazon Bedrock
• AWS SageMaker
• Vertex AI
• Databricks
• Containerized AI platforms
• Automated model deployment
• Drift monitoring
• Retraining triggers
• Model governance
• Security automation
• Security, Governance & Compliance
• Ensure all AI architectures comply with:
• DHS security policies
• NIST 800-series standards
• RMF requirements
• Zero Trust principles
• Federal AI governance guidelines
• Innovation & Research
• Collaborate with customer, cloud providers, academic institutions, and emerging technology partners to evaluate and operationalize innovative AI capabilities.
• Lead technical evaluations, proof-of-concepts, and pilot initiatives for emerging AI technologies.
• Research and operationalize advanced AI capabilities including:
• Agentic AI
• Multimodal AI
• Federated AI
• Synthetic data generation
• Massive parallel AI processing
• AI-enabled image intelligence
• Technical Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to AI engineers, data scientists, architects, and development teams.
• Lead architecture reviews, technical strategy sessions, and solution design workshops.
• Translate operational mission requirements into scalable technical architectures and implementation roadmaps.
• Develop technical white papers, executive briefings, architecture diagrams, and implementation strategies for leadership.
• Support proposal development, technical volume writing, and customer demonstrations for customer's AI initiatives.

Work Experience and Job Skills

• Required:
• 12+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, AI/ML engineering, cloud modernization, or advanced analytics solutions.
• 5+ years designing and implementing AI/ML or Gen-AI solutions in enterprise or federal environments.
• Strong expertise in:
• Generative AI
• LLM architectures
• RAG frameworks
• MLOps
• AI operationalization
• Computer Vision
• NLP
• Cloud-native architectures
• Event-driven architectures
• API ecosystems
• Data streaming platforms
• Microservices architectures
• Enterprise integration frameworks
• Preferred:
• Experience supporting National Security or Intelligence Community programs.
• Experience with:
• Image analysis and anomaly detection platforms
• Operational intelligence environments
• NIEM
• WCO Data Model
• HL7/FHIR
• Federated data architectures
• Synthetic data generation

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology Management or Engineering is required.
• MBA/Master's Degree in a relevant field of study preferred.

Certificates, Licenses and Registrations

• This federal program requires the candidates to be a United States Citizen.
• Must have an active DHS clearance.
• Any related systems engineering, or related technical certifications are desired.
• SAFe Agile or cloud certifications preferred.

Communication Skills

• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to convey technical information to non-technical individuals.
• Demonstrated experience communicating effectively across internal and external organizations.
• Must work well in a matrixed team environment.

Travel

• This position is on-site in Ashburn, VA

Environmental Requirements

• Mainly sedentary; in an office environment
• May be required to lift up to ten (10) pounds
• Flexible in working extended hours