Remote R Programming Jobs in Alexandria, VA (NOW HIRING)

Description

Founded in 2007, Initiate Government Solutions (IGS) is a Woman-Owned Small Business and a fully remote IT services provider supporting federal partners nationwide. We deliver innovative Enterprise IT and Health Services solutions with a strong focus on data analytics, health informatics, cloud migration, AI, and the modernization of federal information systems.

Our vision is to be a health IT trendsetter, continuing to solve the nation's most challenging healthcare IT issues by conceiving, designing, and building solid, creative, and innovative open-source solutions. 

Our mission is to innovate, design, and deliver tailored solutions that balance technical advancement with cost-awareness while providing exceptional service.

IGS is currently pipelining for a remote AI Developer to support our work within federal healthcare industry. Candidates will be contacted as opportunities become available for further consideration.

Assignment of Work and Travel:

This is a remote access assignment. The Candidate will work remotely daily and will remotely access VA systems and therein use approved VA provided communications systems. Travel is not required; however, the candidate may be required to attend onsite client meetings as requested.

The AI Developer will work alongside a team of highly skilled engineers in the development of AI applications. A motivated and qualified candidate will not only have hands-on development experience in (JavaScript, Python or Java) but also a willingness to collaborate with teams to solve problems. Together we're accelerating our client's digital transformation through the building and deployment of data-driven, scalable AI solutions.

Responsibilities and Duties (Included but not limited to):

• Collaborate across cross-functional teams including developers, healthcare domain experts, data scientists, and program leadership to design and implement AI solutions that address specific needs within federal healthcare programs.
• Design, develop, test, and maintain AI-enabled software solutions, leveraging machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision as appropriate to improve healthcare service delivery, operational efficiency, and patient outcomes.
• Develop and optimize tools, dashboards, and algorithms to support analysis of large-scale healthcare datasets such as EHRs, claims data, clinical notes, and population health statistics.
• Integrate AI components into secure federal IT environments, ensuring compatibility with existing systems and compliance with federal security and privacy regulations (e.g., HIPAA, FISMA, FedRAMP).
• Conduct iterative debugging, troubleshooting, and validation of AI models and applications to ensure accuracy, performance, and reliability in production environments.
• Document system architecture, model assumptions, and development processes to facilitate reproducibility, maintainability, and audit-readiness.
• Collaborate on the creation of technical procedures, user manuals, and support documentation to assist system administrators and end-users in adopting AI solutions.
• Support model monitoring, versioning, and retraining efforts to ensure deployed models remain accurate and unbiased over time, especially in evolving clinical or operational contexts.
• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies and DevSecOps practices to ensure iterative development, rapid feedback loops, and secure deployment pipelines.
• Stay informed on AI advancements, ethical considerations, and regulatory updates relevant to the federal healthcare sector, and contribute to innovation and best practices within the agency. 

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field
• 3+ years of professional experience in AI/ML development, data science, or software engineering roles
• Experience working with healthcare data (clinical, claims, operational) in a federal or regulated environment
• Proficiency in programming languages used for AI/ML, such as Python, R, or Java
• Experience with machine learning frameworks and libraries (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, XGBoost)
• Experience with NLP, computer vision, or time-series modeling in a healthcare or clinical context
• Proficiency with SQL and working with relational databases
• Experience with cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure, or VA's private cloud environments)
• Familiarity with containerization and CI/CD tools (e.g., Docker, Jenkins, GitLab, Kubernetes)
• Knowledge of API development and integration using RESTful APIs, including VA Lighthouse APIs is a plus
• Familiarity with structured and unstructured data from healthcare systems (e.g., EHRs, clinician notes, imaging data)
• Understanding of data privacy, de-identification, and ethical AI use in healthcare environments
• Understanding of federal IT compliance standards, including HIPAA, FISMA, FedRAMP
• Experience developing secure software in high-compliance environments
• Excellent communication skills and attention to detail
• Analytical mind and problem-solving aptitude
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust

Preferred Qualifications and Core Competencies:

• Master's degree preferred, especially in AI, Machine Learning, Health Informatics, or a related discipline
• Prior experience supporting VA, HHS, DoD, or other federal health IT programs strongly preferred
• Familiarity with Electronic Health Record systems such as VistA/CPRS or Cerner is a plus
• Active VA Public Trust
• Prior experience supporting a VA program
• Prior, successful experience working in a remote environment

Successful IGS employees embody the following Core Values:

• Integrity, Honesty, and Ethics: We conduct our business with the highest level of ethics. Doing things like being accountable for mistakes, accepting helpful criticism, and following through on commitments to ourselves, each other, and our customers. 
• Empathy, Emotional Intelligence: How we interact with others including peers, colleagues, stakeholders, and customers' matters. We take collective responsibility to create an environment where colleagues and customers feel valued, included, and respected. We work within a diverse, integrated, and collaborative team to drive towards accomplishing the larger mission. We conscientiously and meticulously learn about our customers' and end-users' business drivers and challenges to ensure solutions meet not only technical needs but also support their mission.
• Strong Work Ethic (Reliability, Dedication, Productivity): We are driven by a strong, self-motivated, and results-driven work ethic. We are reliable, accountable, proactive, and tenacious and will do what it takes to get the job done. 
• Life-Long Learner (Curious, Perspective, Goal Oriented): We challenge ourselves to continually learn and improve ourselves. We strive to be an expert in our field, continuously honing our craft, and finding solutions where others see problems. 

Compensation: There are a host of factors that can influence final salary, including, but not limited to, geographic location, Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates, relevant prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education, and certifications.

Benefits: Initiate Government Solutions offers competitive compensation and a robust benefits package, including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision care, matching 401K and profit sharing, paid time off, training time for personal development, flexible spending accounts, employer-paid life insurance, employer-paid short and long term disability coverage, an education assistance program with potential merit increases for obtaining a work-related certification, employee recognition, and referral programs, spot bonuses, and other benefits that help provide financial protection for the employee and their family.

Initiate Government Solutions participates in the Electronic Employment Verification Program.