Entry Level Artificial Intelligence Engineer Jobs in Decatur, AL

Koniag Management Solutions, LLC a Koniag Government Services company, is seeking an AI/ML Engineer with a Secret security clearance to support KMS and our government customer in Huntsville, AL. This is an onsite position.

We offer competitive compensation and an extraordinary benefits package including health, dental and vision insurance, 401K with company matching, flexible spending accounts, paid holidays, three weeks paid time off, and more.

Koniag Government Services is seeking an AI/ML Software Engineer to join a small, high-impact AI and Automation team supporting U.S. Army mission operations. In this role, you will design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications and automation solutions that streamline complex government workflows and improve decision-making for military end users. You will work across the full development lifecycle, from prototyping AI/ML features to building production-grade web applications and maintaining the CI/CD pipelines that deliver them.

This is a hands-on engineering position suited for early-career professionals who are eager to grow technically in a fast-moving environment. You will work within a dedicated AI and Automation team and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams spanning Software Development, Data Analytics, and Infrastructure, contributing meaningfully to architecture decisions, development work, and deployment operations from day one. The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in AI/ML concepts, modern software development practices, and the adaptability to work across frontend, backend, and infrastructure as needed.

Essential Functions, Responsibilities & Duties may include, but are not limited to:

AI/ML Development and Integration:

• Develop and integrate AI/ML capabilities into mission-focused web applications, including large language model (LLM) integration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, and intelligent automation workflows
• Assist in the design and implementation of data ingestion, embedding, vector search, and model serving pipelines
• Support prompt engineering, model evaluation, and performance tuning for deployed AI features
• Research and prototype emerging AI/ML tools, frameworks, and techniques to identify opportunities for mission improvement
• Support the design and development of agentic AI systems, including autonomous agents capable of multi-step planning, tool use, and orchestrated task execution within mission workflows

Full-Stack Application Development:

• Build and maintain web application features using modern frontend frameworks (e.g., React, TypeScript) and backend frameworks (e.g., Python, FastAPI)
• Design and implement RESTful APIs and contribute to database design and query optimization (e.g., PostgreSQL)
• Write clean, testable, and well-documented code following team coding standards and established design patterns
• Participate in code reviews, sprint planning, and collaborative development within an Agile workflow

CI/CD and DevSecOps:

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of CI/CD pipelines for automated testing, security scanning, and deployment
• Support containerized application builds and deployments using Docker and container orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes)
• Assist with static application security testing (SAST) integration and remediation of findings within the development pipeline
• Help maintain and improve infrastructure-as-code configurations and deployment automation scripts

Collaboration and Communication:

• Collaborate with the AI and Automation team to plan, estimate, and deliver work in iterative development cycles
• Document technical designs, implementation decisions, and operational procedures for team and stakeholder reference
• Support demonstrations, briefings, and technical reviews for program leadership and government stakeholders

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field.

Experience:

• 0 to 3 years of professional experience in software development, AI/ML engineering, or a related technical role (internship and academic project experience considered)

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in Python and at least one modern web development language or framework (e.g., JavaScript/TypeScript, React)
• Foundational understanding of AI/ML concepts, including natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), embeddings, and vector search
• Experience with relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) and RESTful API design
• Familiarity with version control systems (Git) and collaborative development workflows (branching strategies, merge requests, code reviews)
• Basic understanding of containerization (Docker) and container orchestration concepts (Kubernetes)
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipeline concepts and at least one CI/CD platform (e.g., GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins)
• Exposure to at least one cloud platform (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud) and general understanding of cloud-native application architecture

Security Clearance:

• Ability to obtain and maintain an Active or Interim U.S. Department of War SECRET security clearance prior to joining.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.

Certification:

• Must obtain CompTIA Security+ certification prior to start date.

Certifications (any of the following are a plus):

• AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty or AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
• Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer or Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer
• Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate or Azure Developer Associate

Work Environment:

• On-site position at a U.S. government facility in Huntsville, AL
• Small, collaborative team environment with direct mentorship from senior engineers
• Opportunity to contribute to meaningful mission outcomes through hands-on engineering of AI-driven solutions
• Fast-paced environment where you will be encouraged to learn, experiment, and grow your technical capabilities

Other Responsibilities:

• Perform other duties as assigned

Our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

The company is an equal opportunity employer. The company shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity (except where gender is a bona fide occupational qualification), national origin or ancestry, age, disability, citizenship, military/veteran status, marital status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We are committed to equal employment opportunity in all decisions related to employment, promotion, wages, benefits, and all other privileges, terms, and conditions of employment.

The company is dedicated to seeking all qualified applicants. If you require an accommodation to navigate or apply for a position on our website, please get in touch with Heaven Wood via e-mail at accommodations@koniag-gs.com or by calling 703-488-9377 to request accommodations.

Koniag Government Services (KGS) is an Alaska Native Owned corporation supporting the values and traditions of our native communities through an agile employee and corporate culture that delivers Enterprise Solutions, Professional Services and Operational Management to Federal Government Agencies. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Koniag, we apply our proven commercial solutions to a deep knowledge of Defense and Civilian missions to provide forward leaning technical, professional, and operational solutions. KGS enables successful mission outcomes for our customers through solution-oriented business partnerships and a commitment to exceptional service delivery. We ensure long-term success with a continuous improvement approach while balancing the collective interests of our customers, employees, and native communities. For more information, please visit www.koniag-gs.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. Shareholder Preference in accordance with Public Law 88-352