Foundation Models Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

StraitSys Inc is seeking a Technical Innovation Subject Matter Expert in Artificial Intelligence to support the FBI in Quantico, Virginia. This position will provide strategic and technical leadership in the design, development, implementation, and support of enterprise technology solutions leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML), and Generative AI technologies. This position leads technical teams in delivering innovative, secure, scalable, and responsible AI solutions that enhance business operations, improve customer experiences, automate workflows, and support data‑driven decision making.

Essential Functions

• Facilitate the definition of project charter, scope, goals, and deliverables.
• Lead architecture, design, implementation, and support of Generative AI solutions.
• Provide technical leadership for AI initiatives involving Machine Learning, Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), intelligent automation, and predictive analytics.
• Design and implement GenAI solutions using commercial and open‑source foundation models to improve business processes, employee productivity, and customer engagement.
• Develop AI‑enabled applications using Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, prompt engineering, AI agents, semantic search, and orchestration frameworks.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, models, and platforms, recommending solutions that align with organizational goals and enterprise architecture.
• Lead proof‑of‑concepts (POCs), pilot programs, and production deployments of AI and GenAI capabilities.
• Collaborate with business leaders, developers, data engineers, cybersecurity teams, data scientists, and vendors to identify and implement AI use cases.
• Establish enterprise standards for AI architecture, model governance, responsible AI, prompt management, and AI lifecycle management.
• Ensure AI and GenAI solutions comply with cybersecurity requirements, privacy regulations, ethical AI principles, and organizational governance policies.
• Lead integration of AI services with enterprise applications, APIs, cloud platforms, collaboration platforms, and business workflows.
• Mentor technical staff on AI development practices, prompt engineering techniques, AI governance, and emerging technologies.
• Develop technology roadmaps supporting enterprise AI adoption and digital transformation initiatives.
• Stay current with advances in Generative AI, foundation models, cloud AI services, and industry best practices.
• Assist the government in creating and compiling project plans, work assignments, schedules and milestones for new innovation, and budgetary documentation; facilitating and monitoring work efforts; identifying resource trends and needs; and escalating functional, quality, or timeline issues appropriately.
• Work closely with internal and government stakeholders to understand negotiated, documented, and agreed upon request deliverables.
• Assist the government in assessing, validating, monitoring, planning, and controlling/mitigating project change and risk.
• Communicate progress, status, and issues to customers and management.
• Assist the government in measuring project performance using appropriate systems, tools, and techniques.
• Assist the government in managing customer expectations and maintaining ongoing client satisfaction.
• Plan, facilitate and champion effective Agile / Scrum ceremonies including backlog grooming, sprint planning, stand ups, sprint demos and retrospectives.
• Analyze new and complex project related problems and create innovative solutions involving finance, scheduling, technology, methodology, tools, and solution components.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Yes

Knowledge, skills, & abilities: Demonstrated project management disciplines and governance, Agile/Scrum‑based practices, and DevSecOps, with demonstrated progression of increased scope and complexity. Knowledge to develop and manage highly scalable cloud‑based systems. Ability to present effective executive level and decision‑making presentations and ability to explain complex technical concepts in pictures and words that are understandable to a broad audience. Commitment to exceptional customer collaboration and engagement techniques. Proven success in managing multiple priorities with follow‑through on projects/tasks to completion; must manage multiple tasks independently and prioritize to meet business needs. Prior success in an Information Technology Service Management environment. Must be able to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships. Must communicate clearly and concisely, orally and in writing, with users and technical support. Must be willing to serve as team lead for the contractor staff assigned to the Task Order.

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Active Top Secret Clearance; may be required to obtain SCI access.
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in business, computer science, project management, information technology, or a related field. Significant related experience may be considered in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Advanced degree in a business or technical field preferred.
• Hands‑on experience with one or more enterprise AI platforms, including Microsoft Azure AI, Azure OpenAI Service, Amazon Bedrock, AWS AI Services, Google Vertex AI, or equivalent technologies.
• Experience integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into enterprise applications using APIs and cloud services.
• Experience with Claude, OpenAI and Microsoft Copilot is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience with Generative AI applications, Prompt engineering, Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents and workflow automation, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, Semantic search and vector databases, AI model evaluation and optimization.
• Experience developing secure, scalable cloud‑based AI solutions.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, responsible AI, data governance, privacy, and compliance requirements.
• Excellent leadership, communication, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.
• Any of the certifications below are highly desirable:
  • FAC P/PM or PMP certification preferred.
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Build Generative AI Solutions with Azure OpenAI Service
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Create AI Agents with Azure AI Foundry
  • AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty
  • Google Professional Machine Learning Engineer
  • CompTIA AI Essentials+ (or equivalent AI certification)
  • Industry‑recognized IT service management certification preferred.
• Experience with Atlassian / Jira / Confluence and TFS a plus.
• Project Management experience preferred, not required.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity principles preferred, not required.
• Ability to successfully pass a pre‑employment drug test.

Preference Statement

Preference will be given to Calista shareholders and their descendants and to spouses of Calista shareholders, and to shareholders of other corporations created pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, in accordance with Title 43 U.S. Code 1626(g).

EEO Statement

Additionally, it is our policy to select, place, train and promote the most qualified individuals based upon relevant factors such as work quality, attitude and experience, so as to provide equal employment opportunity for all employees in compliance with applicable local, state and federal laws and without regard to non‑work related factors such as race, color, religion/creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, genetic information, or other protected status. When applicable, our policy of non‑discrimination applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, training, transfer, promotion, placement, layoff, compensation, termination, reduction in force and benefits.

Reasonable Accommodation

It is Calista and Subsidiaries' business philosophy and practice to provide reasonable accommodations, according to applicable state and federal laws, to all qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities.

The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe the general content and requirements for performance of this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties, responsibilities, and requirements. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract. Management has the exclusive right to alter the scope of work within the framework of this job description at any time without prior notice.