Senior/Principal Software Engineer (AI)
About Nava
Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation dedicated to making government services simple and effective. Since 2015, Nava has assisted federal, state, and local agencies in tackling high-stakes technology modernization challenges. Our expertise lies in guiding agencies towards modern, user-centric digital products and services, leveraging cloud infrastructure and advanced AI solutions.
Position Summary
The Senior/Principal Software Engineer (AI) is a client-facing role responsible for leading the development of advanced AI solutions, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, intelligent agents, and operational guardrails. This role involves bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI models and enterprise platforms, collaborating with government stakeholders, and ensuring ethical AI deployment.
What You'll Do
Lead the end-to-end development of advanced AI solutions, including agentic systems, RAG pipelines, and multi-agent workflows.
Design, build, and optimize LLM-powered autonomous agents, workflow orchestrations, and RAG frameworks.
Create integrations to connect AI agents with enterprise data systems, APIs, and services.
Focus on explainable AI and responsible AI principles.
Develop and refine machine learning models and generative AI applications.
Architect end-to-end AI infrastructure, define guardrails, access controls, responsible-AI checks, and compliance protocols to ensure ethical, secure model deployment.
Implement monitoring, logging, and observability for agent interactions, monitor model drift, system latency, and token economics to maintain cost-per-use efficiency and system reliability.
Develop metrics for evaluating and monitoring AI performance.
Contribute to technical documentation, prototyping strategies, and recommendations for future scaling.
Guide multi-disciplinary teams of software engineers, data engineers, and data scientists, setting the technical playbook and best practices.
Required Skills
Proven experience designing and building production-grade systems using modern programming languages (e.g., Python, TypeScript, or similar).
Advanced proficiency in Python.
Hands-on experience with multiple LLMs, developing or integrating generative AI applications, and building autonomous AI agents.
Experience with AI/ML technologies, ML frameworks, and implementation of GenAI and Agentic AI frameworks.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines, cloud computing platforms (AWS), containerization (Docker), and infrastructure as code (Terraform) for deploying AI applications.
Strong understanding of API and system integration design, cloud architecture, and data workflows.
Demonstrated ability to work iteratively—rapidly prototyping, testing, and improving features based on real-world feedback.
Strong grounding in security, privacy, and accessibility principles, particularly when handling sensitive or regulated data.
Excellent collaboration skills with cross-functional partners including design, product, and research.
Compensation
$153,000—$180,000 USD
Other Requirements
Legal authorization to work in the United States.
Ability to meet any other requirements for government contracts for which candidates are hired.
Work authorization that doesn’t require visa sponsorship, now or in the future.
May be subject to a government background check or security clearance, depending on the contract.
Perks
Health coverage — comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
Insurance coverage — Nava provides disability, life, and accidental death insurance at no cost.
Time off — vacation, holidays (including Juneteenth), and floating holidays.
Annual bonus — when Nava meets its goals, eligible employees receive a performance-based annual bonus.
Parental leave — paid time off for new parents, plus weekly meals delivered to your home.
Wellness program — full platform offering physical, mental, & emotional health resources & support tools.
Virtual care — see doctors online with no copay through a virtual visit program (depending on available providers).
Sabbatical leave — earn extended unpaid leave after continuous service for personal growth or rest.
401(k) match — Nava matches 4% of your salary to support your retirement savings plan.
Flexible work — remote-first environment with flexibility built around your schedule and responsibilities.
Home office setup — company laptop & setup assistance provided via Staples for remote work needs.
Utility support — monthly reimbursement to help offset eligible home office utility expenses.
Learning opportunities — internal training programs and resources to help grow your professional skills.
Development opportunities — LinkedIn Learning access & an annual allowance for courses, tuition, & certs.
Referral bonus — get rewarded when you refer great people who join the Nava team.
Coumtrer benefits — pre-tax commuter programs to support in-office travel when applicable.
Supportive culture — A collaborative and remote-friendly team environment where people genuinely care.
Location
We have fully remote options if you reside in one of the following states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
Contact
Please contact the recruiting team at recruiting@navapbc.com if you would like to request reasonable accommodation during the application or interviewing process.
EEO Statement
Nava is committed to providing equal employment opportunities without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, gender and/or gender identity or expression, color, creed, religion, religious creed, age, national origin, ethnicity, disability, veteran or military status, sex, sexual orientation, reproductive health autonomy, pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, genetic information, domestic violence victim status, marital status, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Nava prohibits any such discrimination or harassment. This policy applies to all employees, applicants, contractors, and temporary workers of Nava.