Software Developer & AI Automation Specialist

Power Platform & AI Automation EngineerThe Safeguards and Security Solutions Enablement team is part of the Safeguards and Security Directorate, formed to refine how the organization operates and to keep the Laboratory secure while enabling mission attainment. The team works like an internal digital creative agency, built around a single ethos: are we making it easier to be an employee, a manager, and a professional at INL, with a focus on continuous improvement. Safeguards and Security Solutions Enablement consolidates five disciplines: Systems Strategy, Business Analysis, AI & Automation Engineering, UX Research & Design, and Data Analytics. You're joining a small group that wears multiple hats, closer to a team of trained operatives than a five-department org chart. The Power Platform & AI Automation Engineer role lives inside AI & Automation Engineering, the team's build engine, translating discovery work into delivered application and automation products.This is not a heads-down coding role, nor is it a throw-it-over-the-fence one. You observe teams closely to discover how work actually happens. The nuanced details of work often remain unknown or misunderstood, yet these details can be what matters most. You'll document customer needs through wireframes, diagrams, or user stories, whatever facilitates rapid understanding. From there, you iterate through tangible drafts and honest feedback, with an eye on the minimum viable product, working agilely rather than by waterfall and without being beholden to a completely nailed-down requirements set. The same requirement elicitor stays present through delivery, checking in throughout the short cycles instead of disappearing and reappearing at the end. Skip these methods, and we risk automating a bad process, which is the same bad process, just faster.Here's your mission: you're not a one-trick automation pony. You understand the business well enough to know that not every need is an automation. Sometimes the right fix is a workflow. Sometimes it's recognizing that a new system is the real answer, and when that's the case, you're all over it, vetting the options, meeting with internal teams to gather requirements, working directly with vendors, and staying engaged through implementation so the actual underlying problem gets solved.This role owns full-stack solution delivery, with the Microsoft platform as the default toolset: C#/.NET and ASP.NET MVC. But the platform serves the solution, not the other way around. When the problem calls for a Python web app in Django or Flask, a .NET service, or even the discovery of an appropriate third-party solution, you'll help there too. Layered on top is real AI engineering: Python, generative AI, prompt engineering, and agentic automation through tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio, Claude, and other custom platforms as the work demands.We're hiring for this role because demand for continual optimization is real and only growing. And none of this is order-taking: success means the people you serve end up more efficient, produce higher-quality work, and genuinely enjoy their jobs more, not just that a ticket got closed.Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities: (Knowledge, skills, and behaviors required for this position.)Discovery & Business AnalysisMeet face-to-face and observe how work actually happens, not just how it gets described. What people say they do and what they actually do are often different, and the small details left out are frequently the insights that matter most.Elicit and document requirements through interviews and working sessions, translating what a team asks for into what they actually need. "Documented" might mean a wireframe, a diagram, or a user story, whatever is clear enough to execute on without relying on tribal knowledge.Wireframe and prototype early and throughout, using tools like Lucid or Figma for process maps, wireframes, and data modeling when it helps, so stakeholders are reacting to something tangible within days rather than approving a written spec weeks before anything visible exists.Catch a bad process before automating it, since automating a bad process doesn't solve anything.Stay with the customer through delivery, checking in on working builds at short, regular intervals and refining requirements as understanding deepens rather than locking them in at kickoff and signing off.Understand full workstreams, not just isolated requests, and proactively surface opportunities to streamline them, increasing efficiency, quality, and job satisfaction for the people doing the work every day.Vet whether automation or a new system is the right fix, and when it's the latter, meet with internal teams to gather requirements, work directly with vendors, and stay engaged through implementation so the actual underlying problem gets solved.Work with process owners across the organization to plan and sequence solutions against real backlogs, not hypothetical requests.Collaborate closely with the team's other disciplines, Systems Strategy, UX Research & Design, and Data Analytics, so that nothing you build recreates the silos this team exists to remove.Build & EngineeringBuild features and services with C#/.NET (currently.NET 10) and ASP.NET MVC.Write integrations with other systems using Python.Craft responsive user interfaces with React, TypeScript, and Bootstrap that are accessible, performant, and maintainable.Sign and optimize schemas, queries, and stored procedures for SQL Server, focusing on reliability, integrity, and performance.Use AI coding assistants responsibly to accelerate development: write effective prompts, review and test AI-suggested code, and follow team guardrails for secure, compliant use.Participate in design reviews, backlog refinement, sprint planning, and demos, maintaining clear documentation and traceability.Follow Agile practices using the Scrum methodology and participate in all ceremonies, stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives. Track work using Jira.Write unit, integration, and end-to-end tests; contribute to CI/CD pipelines; and uphold secure coding practices consistent with laboratory standards.Support operations by triaging issues, performing root-cause analysis, and delivering incremental fixes that minimize risk.Education, Credentials, and Work Experience:RequiredBachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, engineering, or a related field. Equivalent related experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirement.Level 3: Bachelor of Science degree in technical field including Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity or related field and 5 years of relevant experience; or a Master's in a technical field and 2 years of relevant experience; or in lieu of a degree High School diploma or equivalent and at least 11 years of direct/professional experience.Level 4: Bachelor's Degree in computer science, software engineering, information technology or related field and at least 9 years of direct professional experience; or in lieu of a degree High School diploma or equivalent and at least 15 years of direct/professional experience.Obtain and maintain a Department of Energy "Q" clearance, which requires US Citizenship.Preferred QualificationsExperience with CI/CD pipelines and Git-based workflows.Experience integrating authentication and authorization (OIDC, Microsoft Entra ID, or similar) in web apps.Experience building or integrating features with enterprise LLM services; familiarity with responsible AI practices in regulated environments.Exposure to Azure and containerization.Professional experience mentoring others and leading technical tasks.Experience using JIRA or similar tool.Experience with RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and NET WebAPI interfaces.Experience with continuous integration, and deployment using Azure DevOps.Experience with other React JSExperience with Agile, Scrum and Kanban development methodologies.Experience with JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap.Physical Requirements:While performing the duties of this classification, the employee may be required to stand, walk, sit, stoop, kneel, bend, use hands to handle materials, manipulate tools, keyboard, and type, reach with hands and arms, and operate job-related equipment. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds with assistance. Sufficient visual acuity and hearing capacity to perform the essential functions and interact with the public is required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Work Information:Our team works a 9x80 schedule out of Idaho Falls facility.The pay range for this position is: Level 3 ($95,256 - $195,288) / Level 4 ($114,360 - $234,336). At Idaho National Laboratory compensation decisions are determined using factors such