AI Systems Engineer

Job ID T2601287

Location Chantilly, VA, US

Date Posted 2026-03-05

Category Information Technology

Subcategory Data Scientist

Schedule Full-Time

Shift Day Job

Travel No

Minimum Clearance Required TS.SCI_wPoly

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain None

Potential for Remote Work ORA_ON_SITE

Description 

SAIC is seeking a highly skilled AI/ML Systems Engineer to provide Systems Engineering and Technical Advisory (SETA) support to a mission critical program in Chantilly, VA. In this role, you will directly support the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) Ground Enterprise Directorate (GED)—the organization responsible for architecting, acquiring, and sustaining the nation’s most advanced space and ground systems across their full lifecycle.

As an AI/ML Systems Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the customer’s AI/ML strategy within a key ground segment. You will help drive innovation, guide technical direction, and ensure the delivery of cutting edge, mission aligned AI/ML capabilities. This position is ideal for engineers who thrive at the intersection of advanced analytics, system engineering, and strategic advisory work.

Active Top Secret Clearance with Polygraph is required.

Key Responsibilities to include

• Collaborate with cross functional teams to define AI/ML project goals, success criteria, and development roadmaps that align with mission priorities.
• Understand and guide the design of advanced AI/ML models and algorithms, ensuring solutions effectively address complex mission challenges and deliver measurable value.
• Translate mission and business challenges into AI/ML opportunities, clearly articulating benefits, risks, and trade offs to non technical stakeholders.
• Stay current on emerging AI/ML technologies, introducing best practices, tools, and methodologies to strengthen the customer’s technical posture.
• Provide mentorship and technical leadership to junior AI/ML practitioners, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous learning.
• Work closely with customer and vendor data engineers and architects to ensure data pipelines, infrastructure, and compute environments are optimized for model development and deployment.
• Support vendor teams in rigorous model validation and performance testing, ensuring AI/ML solutions meet mission requirements for accuracy, reliability, and robustness.

Qualifications 

Required Education And Experience

• Bachelors and nine (9) years or more experience; Masters and seven (7) years or more experience ; PhD or JD and four (4) years or more experience. Relevant experience to be substituted in lieu of degree.
• Active Top Secret Clearance with Polygraph.
• Relevant industry experience in designing and implementing AI/ML solutions.
• Strong knowledge of ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and programming languages (e.g., Python, R).
• Experience with cloud computing services (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and their AI/ML offerings.
• Proficient in data modeling, data pipeline creation, and deployment of ML models in production environments.
• Familiarity with DevOps practices, including MLOps, and CI/CD pipelines for AI/ML.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to work on complex issues where analysis of situations requires an in-depth evaluation of variable factors.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven record of engaging stakeholders and mentoring teams.

Target salary range $200,001 - $240,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.