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Senior Applied AI Engineer — Software Engineering

Columbia, MD | Full Time | TS/SCI with Polygraph Required

Position: Senior Applied AI Engineer — Software Engineering (Software Engineer, Level 3)

Location: Columbia, MD (on-site)

Category: Software Engineering / AI Systems / LLM Applications

Clearance Requirement: Active TS/SCI with Polygraph

Compensation: $200,000 – $250,000 (annualized USD)

Experience Requirement:

• 12+ years with a Bachelor's degree, OR

• 10+ years with a Master's degree, OR

• 4 additional years of relevant experience in lieu of a degree

Description

Join a fast-moving Tactical AI team developing production-quality AI applications that accelerate workflows through large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and modern software engineering.

As a Senior Applied AI Engineer — Software Engineering, you'll design and develop AI-powered applications that enable analysts and operators to interact with complex data using natural language and intelligent automation. You'll work directly with customers to understand operational challenges, rapidly prototype solutions, and transition successful capabilities into production.

This team emphasizes practical AI, rapid iteration, and customer collaboration over lengthy development cycles. Ideal for an experienced software engineer who enjoys building scalable AI systems while shaping technical direction across the team.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain production AI-enabled software applications using Python and modern software engineering practices.

• Architect and implement LLM-powered workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, and AI agent capabilities that solve real problems.

• Develop backend services, APIs, and data pipelines supporting AI-enabled applications.

• Translate natural-language user requests into deterministic analytical workflows through integration with data sources, databases, and search platforms.

• Collaborate directly with stakeholders to understand operational workflows and rapidly prototype customer-focused AI solutions.

• Integrate structured and unstructured data from multiple sources into scalable AI applications.

• Evaluate emerging AI frameworks, models, and software engineering techniques for real-world applicability.

• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical architecture, engineering standards, and software design across the team.

Skills Requirements

• Production software development experience using Python.

• Experience designing and developing LLM-powered applications, RAG pipelines, or AI agents.

• Experience building backend services, APIs, and data pipelines.

• Strong software engineering fundamentals — testing, code review, version control, CI/CD.

• Experience integrating with search platforms (Elasticsearch), databases (SQL/NoSQL), and streaming systems.

• Strong communication and technical leadership skills.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with agentic frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph, PydanticAI, DeepAgents).

• Experience deploying and operating AI services on AWS with Kubernetes.

• Experience with vector databases and embedding systems.

• Experience with modern observability stacks (OpenTelemetry, Grafana, Prometheus).

• Prior experience mentoring or leading small teams.

Compensation Employment Policy

Salary is determined by multiple factors, including location, education, experience, skills, and organizational requirements. The projected compensation range for this position is $200,000 – $250,000 (annualized USD).

Benefits Overview

At Intezra, Inc., we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support long-term career growth and work-life balance:

• Three CareFirst medical plans available; Intezra pays up to 100% of healthcare premiums and up to 100% of deductibles (based on plan selection) for employees and dependents

• Intezra pays 100% for CareFirst Dental and Vision plans for employees and dependents

• 401(k): 15% company contribution (no match required)

• PTO: 160 hours, increasing with seniority

• 12 Floating Holidays

• 4 Code Red Days

EEO Statement

Intezra, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, pregnancy, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

About Us

Intezra Inc. is a small business prime contractor for all realms of cyber and AI/ML development, from tactical-level tools and capabilities to enterprise-level infrastructure and operations. Our leadership team and staff have helped solve the most complex challenges for the intelligence community for over 15 years.

Intezra Inc. is a small business prime contractor for all realms of cyber and AI/ML development, from tactical-level tools and capabilities to enterprise-level infrastructure and operations. Our leadership team and staff have helped solve the most complex challenges for the intelligence community for over 15 years.