Ai Software Engineer Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

The Opportunity:

To achieve an organization's mission, leaders needstrong teammembers who cancreate and analyzeprocesses, communicate requirements, and develop innovative solutions throughout the execution of the mission. Whether reviewing program-widetechnical architecture or providing AI expertise, our clients need someone who combinesdeep technical understanding ofsoftware engineeringwith strong architectural judgment.That is why we need you, an experienced AI Software Engineer who can operate at a system-of-systems levelto support clients inadvancing AI-enabled systemswithinan R&D environment.

As part of our team,you'llserve as a strategic technical expert for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), helping conceptualize, create, and execute advanced government-funded research and development programs to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone. You'll work with world-class scientists and engineers to support the development of high-impact solutions to society's most challenging health problems. You will leverage technicalexpertiseto provide strategic assessments ofnew technologiesin support to senior ARPA-H decision makers. You'll maintain responsibility for producing and presenting findings and recommendations to a team of colleagues and clients on the feasibility and potential impact of future research programs,assistingwith the management of current programs, andfacilitatingcommercialization of successfully developed technologies.

You'llserve asan AI Software Development Engineer advising program leadershipand supporting software engineering to support the client mission.You will supportclientsin ensuringthat program-wide technical architectureand engineering torigorous AI development, evaluation, and long-term impact.Your attention to detail, flexibility, communication skills, understanding of the client's mission, and problem-solving will enable the mission's success.

WhatYou'll Work On:

• Design andmaintaincore agentic systems, including reasoning, planning, memory, tooluse, and multiagent workflows.

• Implement and evolve A2A communication patterns at the application layer so that agents can collaborate and hand-off tasks

• Integrate MCPs and compose tools exposed via MCP servers; design multi-agent workflows that are reliable, observable and debuggable in production

• Build and evolve applicationlayer infrastructure such as toolcalling, MCP integration, A2A communication, and contextwindow management.

• Build and maintain RAG features such as query formulation, result ranking, citation grounding, and hallucination mitigation

• Lead LLM orchestration and RAG capabilities, including prompt design, retrieval quality, grounding, and hallucination mitigation.

• Implement and iterate on prompt engineering patterns and system prompts across GPT, Claude, and Gemini

• Develop and write prompts and pipelines that are cost-efficient and have awareness of token economics without sacrificing quality

• Translate product requirements into clear technical designs and ship endtoend features quickly and reliability.

• Prototype and experiment with new agentic capabilities, analyze results, and iterate based on user behavior.

• Ensure high observability and reliability through instrumentation, SLOs, guardrails, and collaboration with infrastructure engineering.

• Uphold engineering excellence by writing highquality code, mentoring teammates, and enforcing strong privacy, security, and compliance practices.

Join us. The worldcan'twait.

You Have:

• 7+ years of experience with software engineering, including building and operating production systems

• Experience in high-velocity environments, including owning and shipping complex products end-to-end

• Experiencewith Python and at least one other backend language such as Java, Go, or Rust

• Experience in big tech building customer-facing AI platforms or developer tools at scale

• Experience building and operating systems on major cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure

• Experience with containerization and working within CI/CD pipelines

• Experience inprompt engineering and LLM behavior across model families

• Experience withintoken economicssuch ascost-per-query awareness, context budget management, and promptefficiency

• Knowledge of modern backend frameworks and async patterns, algorithms, data structures, APIs, and software design patterns

• Bachelor's in Computer Science or Software Engineering

Nice If You Have:

• Experience in healthcare, life sciences, or other regulated domains

• Experience in security-conscious engineering, including input validation, output sanitization, audit logging, and responsible AIguardrails

• Experiencein startup or early-stage environments, including 0-to-1 product building

• Experience with MCP at the client or consumer layer, including how agents discover and invoke tools via MCP

• Ability to be comfortable with ambiguity and a high sense of urgency

• Ability to be a self-starterandoperatewithin a fast-paced environment

• Master's degree in a relevant field

Compensation

At Booz Allen, we celebrate your contributions, provide you with opportunities and choices, and support your total well-being. Our offerings include health, life, disability, financial, and retirement benefits, as well as paid leave, professional development, tuition assistance, work-life programs, and dependent care. Our recognition awards program acknowledges employees for exceptional performance and superior demonstration of our values. Full-time and part-time employees working at least 20 hours a week on a regular basis are eligible to participate in Booz Allen's benefit programs. Individuals that do not meet the threshold are only eligible for select offerings, not inclusive of health benefits. We encourage you to learn more about our total benefits by visiting the Resource page on our Careers site and reviewing Our Employee Benefits page.

Identity Statement

As part of the hiring process, we will ask you to complete an identity verification process that leverages advanced biometrics and artificial intelligence to ensure authenticity and protect against identity fraud. You are expected to be on camera during interviews and assessments. We reserve the right to take your picture to verify your identity and prevent fraud.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

AI is a part of our daily work at Booz Allen, and we are committed to the responsible and ethical use of AI tools. However, we want to ensure a fair candidate process based on your own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or other tools to assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is prohibited unless permission is explicitly provided.

Work Model
Our people-first culture prioritizes the benefits of collaboration, whether it occurs in person or virtually. To support engagement and effective communication, employees working virtually are generally expected to have their cameras on during meetings.

• Remote: If this position is listed as remote, there may still be occasions when you are required to work in person at a Booz Allen or customer facility.

• Hybrid: If this position is listed as hybrid, you will be expected to work from a Booz Allen facility frequently, in alignment with leadership expectations and the needs of the role. You may also be required to work from or visit a customer facility.

• Onsite: If this position is listed as onsite, work will primarily be performed at a Booz Allen office or customer facility, where employees will collaborate directly with colleagues and customers as required by the role.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local, or international law.