Back End AI Engineer Systems Integration (Level 4/5) - Military Veterans

Requisition ID: R10161717

* Category: Engineering

* Location: Unknown City, Virginia, United States of America | Falls Church, Virginia, United States of America

* Clearance Type: None

* Telecommute: Yes- May Consider Full Time Teleworking for this position

* Shift: 1st Shift (United States of America)

* Travel Required: No

* Positions Available: 1

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. We are seeking a back-end AI engineer, to join the Insights Team within the Enterprise Insights & Analytics (EI&A) organization. This position will report to the Manager, Insights, EI&A.

This role will sit in our Falls Church, VA location but we may also consider a hybrid or teleworker arrangement for this position.   This position can be hired as a Level 4 or Level 5, depending on the candidate's experience and education.

 

Enterprise Insights & Analytics is reimagining decision making at Northrop Grumman. We are a team of strategic analysts, scientists, engineers, and technologists who use science, research and data to identify strategic insights and create innovative analytic solutions for our business. As a back-end AI engineer, you be responsible for incorporating AI into a system of systems (SoS) architecture and ensuring the development of AI-enabled systems meet our mission.  

 

As a back-end AI engineer, you will be curious, detail-oriented, and ethically conscious. You seek to ask the right questions about our strategies, the business, and how we can use data to find solutions. You are a strategic thinker who can translate data to create well-informed decisions to enable better business outcomes. You want to drive positive change for our organizations, are candid and collaborative in taking on our most difficult analytics projects as well as the process and culture changes that accompanies them. You will build deep and trusted partnerships at the working and organizational levels. 

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: 

* Incorporate AI into a system of systems (SoS) architecture. 

* Utilize a range of AI development environments and tools, implemented in back-end services.  

* Develop integration and test procedures by implementing and validating approaches, including emerging methods for muti-agent system of systems (SoS) requirements.  

* Ensure the smooth operation and long-term sustainability of AI-enabled integrations.  

* Work closely with front-end and back-end developers and other stakeholders to integrate and deploy AI related tools integrated within Azure resources. 

* Design, develop, and maintain scalable and robust AI-enabled web applications. 

* Implement and optimize Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) methods to enhance AI systems with relevant, up-to-date information.  

* Develop and maintain data pipelines for processing and formatting data for retrieval systems.  

* Setup and manage vector databases or search indexes optimized for semantic search and similarity matching.  

* Craft effective prompts that combine user queries with retrieved context to generate high-quality outputs.  

* Evaluate and monitor RAG outputs using robust metrics and continuous feedback loops. 

* Implement back-end services and APIs using server-side languages (e.g., Node.js, Python) and frameworks. 

* Ensure seamless AI integration of front-end and back-end components. 

* Implement monitoring, alerting, and automatic scaling solutions to ensure application performance and availability. 

* Conduct thorough testing and debugging to ensure high-quality and reliable code. 

* Adhere to best practices for code quality, security, and performance. 

* Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in software development. 

* Contribute to the continuous improvement of our development processes and standards. 

Basic Qualifications: 

* Level 4 - Bachelor’s degree with 9+ years of related professional experience -OR- a master’s degree with 7+ years of related professional experience. 

* Level 5 - Bachelor’s degree with 14+ years of related professional experience -OR- a master’s degree with 12+ years of related professional experience. 

* Strong experience with back-end development using server-side languages (e.g., Node.js, Python) and frameworks. 

* Experience with AI development environments and tools.  

* Experience with managing and deploying AI-enabled applications on cloud platforms, particularly Azure.  

* Experience with data preparation and processing for retrieval systems.  

* Experience with DevOps practices and deployment tools such as Docker, Jenkins, Kubernetes for continuous integration and delivery. 

* Experience collaborating on projects with multiple teams, managing relationships, and communicating findings to audiences. 

* Strong problem solving and debugging skills. 

* Must be able to work in our Falls Church office or be willing to travel to this office as required if an alternate work location is granted. 

* Must have the ability obtain and maintain a security clearance. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

* Degree in a related field (e.g., Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology) is preferred. 

* Experience in prompt engineering and crafting effective prompts for RAG.  

* Knowledge of evaluation metrics and monitoring techniques for RAG outputs. 

* Proficiency in setting up and managing vector databases or search indexes.  

* Strong experience in deploying and managing AI applications on cloud platforms, particularly Azure. 

* Strong Experience with containerization and orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes. 

* Strong experience using an object-oriented programming language (e.g. Python). 

* Experience with data storage and retrieval techniques, ETL, and databases. 

* Experience interfacing with and presenting to executive audiences. 

* Ability to work with the utmost confidentiality when applicable. 

Salary Range: *$146,300 - $219,500

Salary Range 2: *$181,400 - $272,200

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.