Engineering Architect

Role overview A senior architect role focused on the end-to-end technical design of a secure AI test and evaluation platform serving government teams that assess AI systems before deployment. The position owns architecture decisions across evaluation interfaces, dataset and model tooling, ML infrastructure, web services, and packaging for secure government environments, acting as a senior technical advisor to public-sector stakeholders.

Responsibilities - Maintain system blueprints, technology roadmaps, and foundational design principles for open-source AI solutions - Define and govern interface standards that bind platform services, evaluation frameworks, infrastructure, and third-party systems together - Evaluate open-source and commercial technologies, documenting trade-offs across feasibility, operations, security, and long-term viability - Make build, buy, and adopt recommendations across the software portfolio - Embed public-sector hosting, identity, cybersecurity, and compliance requirements into core designs from inception - Lead cross-functional design reviews, resolve architectural dependencies, and align team initiatives - Establish enterprise architecture standards, reusable patterns, security guardrails, and design review workflows - Translate mission goals, program objectives, and security policies into actionable engineering tasks - Steer solutions from deployment through operational testing, acceptance, and sustainment - Advise engineering staff and tech leads on open-source ecosystems such as PyTorch, JAX, Ray, Kubeflow, MCP, and open-weights foundation models - Author technical architecture documentation, estimates, roadmaps, and statements of work for proposals

Requirements - U.S. citizenship and willingness to obtain and maintain a security clearance, including a federal background investigation - Deep experience architecting complex open-source AI or ML systems for government or similarly constrained environments - Demonstrated ability to set standards, run design reviews, and make defensible build-versus-buy decisions - Strong cross-functional communication with engineers, security, and executive stakeholders - Track record guiding teams from concept through production deployment and long-term sustainment - Background in technical consulting, solution advisory, or client-facing architectural roles

Nice to have - Direct experience with the PyData and Scientific Python software stack - Prior or current federal security clearance - Open-source maintainership, technical blogging, or conference engagement

Benefits and work setup - U.S.-remote position with preference for candidates in the greater Washington, D.C. area - Salary range of $145,000 to $250,000 USD depending on experience and location - 100% employer-paid medical premiums for employees and self-managed PTO with a minimum time-off floor