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Contract Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in Washington

10a Labs

Machine Learning Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

$130K - $200K/yr

We are seeking a Machine Learning Engineer (3-5+ years of experience) to help design, build, evaluate, and deploy advanced machine learning systems across a range of safety, security, and ...

Spear AI

Machine Learning Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site +1

We're seeking a skilled Machine Learning Engineer to build and deploy production ML systems for the next-generation data management and artificial intelligence platform for maritime domain awareness.

Kitware

Machine Learning Engineer

Arlington, VA · Hybrid

We consider the work that we do on our government contracts as one of the ways that we give back to ... Machine learning experience using visual data * Understanding of a variety of machine learning ...

Kitware

Machine Learning Engineer

Arlington, VA · Hybrid

$110K - $160K/yr

We consider the work that we do on our government contracts as one of the ways that we give back to ... Machine learning experience using visual data * Understanding of a variety of machine learning ...

Kitware

Machine Learning Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

$110K - $160K/yr

We consider the work that we do on our government contracts as one of the ways that we give back to ... Machine learning experience using visual data * Understanding of a variety of machine learning ...

Ametek

Machine Learning Engineer

Herndon, VA · Hybrid

We are seeking an earlycareer Machine Learning Engineer who is excited to grow rapidly by building and deploying productiongrade ML systems. The ideal candidate has a strong engineering mindset, has ...

Ametek

Machine Learning Engineer

Herndon, VA · On-site

We are seeking an early-career Machine Learning Engineer who is excited to grow rapidly by building and deploying production-grade ML systems. The ideal candidate has a strong engineering mindset ...

Capital One

Lead Machine Learning Engineer

Mclean, VA · On-site +1

$103K - $136K/yr

Lead Machine Learning Engineer As a Capital One Machine Learning Engineer (MLE), you'll be part of an Agile team dedicated to productionizing machine learning applications and systems at scale. You ...

Capital One

Lead Machine Learning Engineer

Mclean, VA · On-site +1

$103K - $136K/yr

Lead Machine Learning Engineer As a Capital One Machine Learning Engineer (MLE), you'll be part of an Agile team dedicated to productionizing machine learning applications and systems at scale. You ...

Capital One

Sr. Lead Machine Learning Engineer

Mclean, VA · On-site +1

$103K - $136K/yr

Sr. Lead Machine Learning Engineer As a Capital One Machine Learning Engineer (MLE) , you'll be part of an Agile team dedicated to productionizing machine learning applications and systems at scale.

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All JobsContract Machine Learning Engineer JobsContract Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in Washington

Contract Machine Learning Engineer information

See Washington salary details

$35.7K

$145.8K

$219.2K

How much do contract machine learning engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 25, 2026, the average yearly pay for contract machine learning engineer in Washington is $145,843.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $115,000.00 and $175,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a Contract Machine Learning Engineer job?

A Contract Machine Learning Engineer is a professional who builds and deploys machine learning models on a temporary or project-based basis. They typically work with companies seeking specialized expertise in data science, model development, or AI integration without committing to a full-time hire. Responsibilities may include data preprocessing, model training, algorithm optimization, and deployment. Contract roles allow for flexibility and are often remote, making them ideal for businesses with short-term AI needs or startups looking to scale their machine learning capabilities quickly.

What are the typical day-to-day responsibilities of a Contract Machine Learning Engineer?

As a Contract Machine Learning Engineer, your daily tasks usually involve gathering and preprocessing data, building and fine-tuning machine learning models, and collaborating with software engineers and product managers to integrate your models into production systems. You may also meet with clients or internal teams to gather requirements and provide technical insights, as well as document and present your findings to stakeholders. Work is typically project-based and may require a high degree of independence, flexibility, and adaptability. This dynamic environment often exposes you to a variety of industries and technical challenges, making each project unique and providing valuable experience for professional growth.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Contract Machine Learning Engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Contract Machine Learning Engineer, you need a strong background in machine learning algorithms, data preprocessing, statistical analysis, and proficiency in programming languages such as Python or R, often supported by a degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with tools like TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, and experience using cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) or certifications in these areas are common requirements. Excellent problem-solving, communication, and time management skills are vital, especially when working with cross-functional teams and managing multiple projects remotely. These skills ensure effective delivery of high-quality, scalable machine learning solutions within tight project timelines and diverse client environments.

What are the most commonly searched types of Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington? The most popular types of Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington are:
What are popular job titles related to Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington? For Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington look for? The top searched job categories for Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Washington are:
What cities in Washington are hiring for Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs? Cities in Washington with the most Contract Machine Learning Engineer job openings:
Contract Machine Learning Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Contract Machine Learning Engineer job openings in Washington as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 57% Full Time, and 43% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $145,843 per year, or $70.1 per hour.

Machine Learning Engineer

10a Labs

Washington, DC • On-site

$130K - $200K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO

Posted 22 days ago

Job description

About 10a Labs: 10a Labs is the safety and threat-intelligence layer trusted by frontier AI labs, AI unicorns, Fortune 10 companies, and leading global technology platforms. Our adversarial red teaming, model evaluations, and intelligence collection enable engineering, safety, and security teams to stay ahead of evolving threats and deploy AI systems safely.
About the Role:
We are seeking a Machine Learning Engineer (3-5+ years of experience) to help design, build, evaluate, and deploy advanced machine learning systems across a range of safety, security, and intelligence applications.
This role spans the full ML lifecycle, from dataset development and experimentation to model training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring. You will work both independently and collaboratively across projects involving multimodal classification systems, frontier model evaluations, model distillation research, and agentic workflows. The ideal candidate combines strong engineering fundamentals with a research mindset and enjoys tackling ambiguous, high-impact problems at the frontier of AI.
You will collaborate closely with researchers, software engineers, red teamers, and subject-matter experts to develop production-ready systems that support leading AI organizations and technology companies.
Responsibilities may include:
  • Design, train, evaluate, and deploy machine learning models across text, image, audio, and multimodal domains.
  • Develop and improve classification systems for safety, security, abuse detection, and intelligence applications.
  • Conduct experiments to benchmark, evaluate, and compare AI models, including large language models and multimodal systems.
  • Contribute to model distillation, optimization, and fine-tuning efforts to improve performance, efficiency, and deployability.
  • Design evaluation pipelines, metrics, and testing frameworks to measure model capabilities, reliability, and safety.
  • Build agentic systems and automated workflows for evaluation, red teaming, research, and large-scale experimentation.
  • Own ML projects from initial research and prototyping through production deployment and monitoring.
  • Partner with software engineers to productionize ML systems and support ongoing improvements.
  • Provide technical expertise and guidance across client engagements and internal research initiatives.

We're looking for someone who:
  • Brings curiosity, creativity, and rigor to ambiguous research and engineering problems, with a bias toward experimentation and rapid iteration;
  • Thrives in collaborative, interdisciplinary environments while also being comfortable independently driving projects to completion;
  • Communicates technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences;
  • Is resourceful, proactive, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving startup environment.
  • Is excited about developing novel approaches that advance the state of AI safety, evaluation, and security.

Requirements:
  • 3-5+ years of professional experience building and deploying machine learning systems.
  • Strong proficiency in Python and modern machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and/or TensorFlow
  • Experience working across multiple modalities, with expertise in one or more of:
    • Computer Vision: image classification, object detection, OCR, segmentation, deepfake detection, multimodal vision-language systems, or related areas.
    • Natural Language Processing: LLMs, text classification, information extraction, retrieval systems, speech-to-text, agentic applications, or related areas.
  • Experience training, fine-tuning, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models in production environments.
  • Experience designing evaluation methodologies, benchmarking systems, and model performance metrics.
  • Experience with MLOps tools and practices (Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD for ML, MLflow, etc.)
  • Experience with cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform (preferred), AWS, or Azure, including ML infrastructure, workflow orchestration, storage, and database services.
  • Familiarity or experience with model distillation, synthetic data generation, reinforcement learning, or AI evaluation research is strongly preferred.

Preferred:
Experience working with frontier language models, multimodal foundation models, or AI safety evaluations.Prior experience in cybersecurity, trust and safety, abuse prevention, threat intelligence, or related domains.Experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI agent frameworks, and context orchestration systems such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI Agents, or AutoGen.
Compensation:
  • Salary Range: $130K-$200K, depending on experience and location
  • Bonus: Performance-based annual bonus
  • Professional Development: Support for conferences, continuing education, or leadership training
  • Work Environment: Fully remote, U.S.-based
  • Health Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage

Time Off: Generous PTO and paid holiday schedule

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