Senior AI Engineer

Expression is seeking experienced Senior AI Engineers to design, develop, integrate, and evaluate advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This position will support the implementation of secure, mission-focused AI applications within the DHS AI environment. The Senior AI Engineers will develop and integrate multi-agent AI workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), intelligent document-processing capabilities, and AI evaluation frameworks to support investigative analysis, information retrieval, report generation, and human decision support.

We are seeking hands-on engineers with expertise in one or more of three technical areas:

• Multi-agent orchestration and model integration
• RAG and AI-powered application development
• AI assurance, evaluation, and observability

The ideal candidate has a strong software engineering foundation, experience delivering enterprise AI applications, and the ability to translate complex technical requirements into secure, reliable, maintainable software. You will collaborate with AI architects, data engineers, and Government stakeholders to build, test, and improve production-quality AI capabilities within an established enterprise environment.

Security Clearance: Secret clearance required with eligibility for TS/SCI.

Location: Shirlington, VA

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 9+ years of professional experience in software engineering, AI engineering, or AI test automation, including substantial recent hands-on experience developing, integrating, or evaluating enterprise AI applications.
• Demonstrated experience building, deploying, or evaluating LLM-powered and generative AI solutions in enterprise or production-oriented environments, with direct responsibility for implementation rather than solely research, experimentation, or architectural planning.
• Strong Python programming and debugging skills, including backend development, RESTful APIs, asynchronous programming, modular application design, and automated testing. Experience with FastAPI, Pydantic, asyncio, or comparable technologies.
• Demonstrated hands-on expertise in at least one of the following AI engineering specializations:
• • Multi-Agent Orchestration & Model Integration: Developing multi-agent AI applications using LangGraph, LangChain, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, or comparable frameworks; implementing model/tool integrations, structured agent handoffs, stateful workflows, prompt management, and bounded execution.
  • Grounded AI Applications & RAG: Designing and implementing RAG pipelines, document processing, source-grounded generation, prompt/output validation, citation handling, and AI-assisted document generation or human-reviewed workflows.
  • AI Assurance, Evaluation & Observability: Developing automated LLM evaluation frameworks, regression suites, model reliability tests, adversarial testing, prompt-injection defenses, and application observability capabilities.
• Experience integrating AI applications with enterprise data platforms, APIs, or retrieval services, including secure access to structured or unstructured data.
• Experience designing and implementing secure AI applications, including authentication, authorization, permission-aware data access, sensitive-data handling, and appropriate human oversight.
• Experience with LLM application evaluation and reliability, including response quality, factual grounding, hallucination mitigation, error handling, and model performance measurement.
• Experience with modern software engineering practices, including Git, code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and software configuration management.
• Experience developing or deploying cloud-native or containerized applications using Docker, AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, or comparable technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical requirements into production-quality AI software components, integration designs, test cases, and engineering documentation.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and communication skills, including the ability to collaborate with AI architects, data engineers, and technical stakeholders to resolve complex integration challenges.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating AI applications with Palantir, Databricks, Elasticsearch, or comparable governed enterprise data platforms.
• Experience implementing Responder-Evaluator-Reporter architectures, multi-model ensembles, model comparison, or structured AI output verification.
• Experience with LLMOps platforms, prompt/model version management, evaluation tooling, and reproducible AI release processes.
• Experience supporting Federal Government, Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Department of Homeland Security, or similarly regulated environments.
• Familiarity with Government cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility, data governance, and software authorization requirements.
• Experience adapting existing AI algorithms, research prototypes, or software components into operational enterprise applications.
• Experience supporting technical demonstrations, Government acceptance testing, operational pilots, or production AI system sustainment.

Benefits:

Expression offers competitive salaries and benefits, such as:

• 401k matching
• PPO and HDHP medical/dental/vision insurance
• Education reimbursement up to $10,000/yr
• Complimentary life insurance
• Generous PTO and 11 days of holiday leave
• Commuter Benefits Plan

About Expression:

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Washington DC, Expression provides data fusion, data analytics, AI/ML, software engineering, information technology, and electromagnetic spectrum management solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and national security community. Expression’s culture focuses on creating immediate and sustainable value for our clients via agile delivery of tailored solutions built through constant engagement with our clients. Expression was ranked #1 on the Washington Technology 2018's Fast 50 list of fastest-growing small business Government contractors and a Top 20 Big Data Solutions Provider by CIO Review.

We make sure to provide everyone with the tools and opportunities to grow while working on some of the newest technologies in the industry. We get excited about celebrating our professionals' milestones, accomplishments, promotions, overcoming challenges, and many other aspects that make an engaging collaborative environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

Expression is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please submit your request to our Human Resources department through the application portal.