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Principal AI Software Engineer (TS/SCI + Poly)

Fort Meade, MD

Our Mission Statement

At Aperio Global, we bring together experts in cybersecurity, AI, data analytics, and cloud technologies to solve complex national security challenges. We focus on work where our expertise creates the greatest impact.

Our team includes technologists, Intelligence Community veterans, and security professionals who believe the best solutions come from collaboration, accountability, and technical excellence. From cyber operations and AI platforms to cloud-native software and emerging technologies, our work speaks for itself.

Come Solve With Us

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, retirement savings with company match, generous paid time off, and professional development. We invest in our people because great missions require great teams.

We are seeking a Principal AI Software Engineer to support the exciting Corporate Directory Services mission. You will work closely with mission stakeholders to lead the development of advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) solutions, intelligence mission workflows, and emerging analytic capabilities. This role is responsible for designing, developing, prototyping, and operationalizing AI-enabled applications that automate complex intelligence processes, discover emergent intelligence value, and accelerate mission outcomes. You will also  work across multiple technical domains including software engineering, data science, machine learning, and large language model (LLM) integration to deliver innovative capabilities from proof-of-concept through operational deployment. ​

Mission Focus:

Collaborate closely with customers to drive the rapid development, evaluation, and transition of AI/ML-enabled mission capabilities that enhance operational analysis and intelligence workflows. Leverage emerging technologies, scalable software architectures, and advanced analytics to automate discovery, accelerate insight generation, and deliver production-ready solutions across diverse mission domains. Shape technical strategy and best practices to ensure effective deployment, sustainment, and evolution of AI-enabled mission systems

Technical Proficiency:

Proficient in current AI/ML technologies such as classification, clustering, collaborative filtering, search, and retrieval using techniques such as but not limited to  deep neutral networks (DNN), recurrent neural networks (RNN), attention-based transformers, etc. Experience in current large language models (LLM) for representative and generative tasks.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree plus 11-years of relevant experience or equivalent. Proficiency with object-oriented languages (JAVA, Python) and experience with Jupyter Notebooks

Security Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Polygraph required (CCA) 


Nice To Have:

Proficiency in approaches to retrieval augmented generation (RAG), model context protocol (MCP) and other recent technologies supporting agentic AI. Foundational knowledge of statistics related to parametric probability distributions, nonparametric probability distributions, Bayesian analysis, and covariance matrices. Proficiency in agentic systems that can automatically carry out mission goals with limited supervision.

Salary Range: 207,000-227,000

The salary range for this role represents Aperio’s good-faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Placement within the range is based on multiple factors, including but not limited to an individual’s qualifications, relevant experience, education, certifications, technical skills, contract labor categories and/or rates, work location, market conditions, and business needs.

Benefits

At Aperio Global, we understand the value of investing in our most important asset—our employees. That's why we have crafted a comprehensive benefits package designed to help you make the best decision for yourself, your family and your lifestyle. For additional details, contact our talent acquisition team.

  • Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
  • Retirement Plan (401k, IRA) with 100% employer match up to 6%
  • Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
  • Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
  • Short Term & Long Term Disability
  • Professional Development
  • (and much more)

Aperio Global is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive workforce where all employees and applicants are treated with respect and fairness. Employment decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs — never on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy/childbirth, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, ethnicity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

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