[Remote] AI Developer/Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Upslope Advisors is an 8(a) certified business consulting and professional services firm dedicated to delivering high-impact solutions to federal clients. They are seeking an AI Developer/Engineer to design, build, evaluate, deploy, and sustain production AI and machine-learning solutions for a federal civilian agency. Responsibilities Design, develop, train, evaluate, and optimize artificial intelligence and machine-learning modelsBuild production retrieval-augmented generation applications, advanced chatbots, document-processing services, predictive models, and automation toolsSelect appropriate models, algorithms, embeddings, vector stores, and retrieval strategiesDevelop model-performance metrics and document experiments, assumptions, limitations, and resultsSupport the development of fraud-detection, forecasting, public-sector analytics, and other mission-focused AI capabilitiesEvaluate model accuracy, groundedness, hallucination risk, bias, drift, reliability, security, and overall performanceImplement model guardrails, human-in-the-loop controls, logging, and operational monitoringConduct prompt testing, retrieval-quality testing, hallucination testing, and performance validationIdentify model limitations and recommend appropriate technical or operational controlsSupport continuous evaluation and improvement of deployed AI solutionsDevelop Python-based artificial intelligence, data-processing, and API servicesPerform data preprocessing, feature engineering, statistical analysis, and data-quality validationWork with large and complex datasets from multiple structured and unstructured sourcesIntegrate AI and machine-learning models into full-stack applications and enterprise technology platformsSupport front-end, middleware, database, API, and back-end integrationRefactor and onboard externally developed AI applications into controlled enterprise environmentsDevelop infrastructure as code using Terraform or comparable toolsBuild and maintain Git-based continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelinesImplement automated testing, deployment controls, and release-management processesIntegrate observability, alerting, performance monitoring, and model-monitoring capabilitiesSupport the deployment and operation of AI applications in secure cloud and enterprise environmentsTroubleshoot application, model, data, integration, and production-performance issuesPrepare architecture, build, operating, security, model, and user documentationDocument models, experiments, processes, technical decisions, assumptions, and limitationsCollaborate with product owners, data scientists, software engineers, cloud engineers, security teams, and customer stakeholdersSupport demonstrations, technical reviews, knowledge transfer, and user adoption activitiesSupport accessibility, security authorization, data-governance, and continuous-monitoring activities Skills Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, or a related fieldFive to ten years of relevant software-development, data-science, or AI and machine-learning engineering experienceStrong proficiency in PythonDemonstrated experience designing and deploying machine-learning solutionsExperience integrating AI and machine-learning models into production applicationsStrong understanding of model evaluation, optimization, testing, and performance measurementExperience working with large and complex datasetsExperience with data preprocessing, feature engineering, statistical analysis, and data-quality validationExperience with Git, continuous integration and continuous delivery, automated testing, and infrastructure as codeExperience integrating monitoring or observability tools into AI systemsFamiliarity with deep-learning frameworks and modern AI and machine-learning toolsAbility to document models, experiments, processes, and technical decisionsStrong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and collaboration skillsU.S. citizenship is requiredThe selected candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a federal public trust determinationProduction experience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, AWS SageMaker, GCP Vertex AI, or comparable platformsExperience developing retrieval-augmented generation applications, vector-search solutions, and advanced chatbotsExperience with embeddings, vector databases, retrieval strategies, and document-ingestion pipelinesExperience with prompt engineering, large language model evaluation, guardrails, drift monitoring, and hallucination testingExperience with ServiceNow AI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Salesforce Einstein, or comparable enterprise AI toolsExperience supporting federal cloud environments and FedRAMP requirementsKnowledge of National Institute of Standards and Technology controls and federal security-authorization processesExperience working with Controlled Unclassified In