AI Ops Engineer

Company Overview:At ValidaTek, we modernize and optimize IT services to solve some of the most critical challenges facing federal civilian and defense agencies. From customers to partners to top-talent employees, ValidaTek puts people first, empowering them to exceed expectations and transform government organizations. Our success starts and ends with our people, so we built a company where great people can do great things, with the resources and autonomy to make decisions that transform organizations. We operate as one team of diverse people, united by a passion for continuous growth and optimization. Our commitment to quality and performance optimization is the reason why our IT Service Projects and New Development Projects have been appraised at CMMI Maturity Level 5, positioning us as one of a handful of elite companies to receive the highest form of third-party validation. are seeking a Senior AIOps Engineer to support mission-critical operations within a highly secure environment and drive the evolution of enterprise IT Service Management (ITSM) capabilities. This role is responsible for designing, deploying, and managing AIOps solutions that improve the reliability, performance, and security of enterprise networks and systems.Serving as the technical lead for the AIOps initiative, the selected candidate will coordinate integrations across Network Engineering, ServiceNow, and SolarWinds teams. The role leverages Splunk and the Machine Learning Toolkit (MLTK) to deliver descriptive and predictive analytics while enabling closed-loop automated incident response to maintain the availability of mission-essential infrastructure.Responsibilities:Lead the AIOps platform initiative by serving as the primary technical liaison across Network Engineering, ServiceNow, and SolarWinds administration teams to establish unified telemetry pipelines.Architect and implement closed-loop remediation workflows through deep integration of Splunk ITSI alerts with ServiceNow Event Management and Incident Management modules.Design, deploy, and maintain Splunk AIOps solutions across classified and unclassified environments to provide real-time operational visibility and situational awareness.Normalize and correlate network performance and fault telemetry from SolarWinds with server and application logs to deliver a comprehensive view of enterprise health.Develop and deploy machine learning models using Splunk MLTK to detect anomalous activity, identify potential cyber threats, and predict infrastructure degradation.Engineer secure telemetry ingestion pipelines supporting cross-domain solutions and tactical edge devices.Utilize Splunk ITSI to correlate multi-source events, reduce alert fatigue, and prioritize mission-impacting incidents.Collaborate with cybersecurity operations teams to integrate AIOps insights into defensive cyber operations and incident response activities.Ensure observability platforms comply with applicable STIGs and IL5/IL6 security requirements while maintaining detailed architectural and compliance documentation.Stay current with emerging AIOps technologies and capabilities relevant to federal, defense, and intelligence community mission systems.Qualifications:Active Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance required at time of hire.Active IAT Level II certification required (e.g., Security+ CE, CySA+, GSEC, or SSCP).U.S. Citizenship required.7+ years of experience with Splunk Enterprise, including architecture, cluster management, and advanced Search Processing Language (SPL) development.3+ years of experience implementing AIOps workflows and integrating enterprise ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow for automated remediation and root cause analysis.Demonstrated experience building, testing, and tuning supervised and unsupervised machine learning models using Splunk MLTK.Advanced scripting and automation skills, including development of custom search commands, API integrations, and automated remediation workflows using Python or similar languages.Experience leading technical working groups and coordinating efforts across infrastructure, operations, and development teams.Prior experience supporting mission-critical systems within DoD or federal operations environments, including NOC/SOC operations.Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present technical solutions, architectures, and analyses to leadership and governance boards.Experience aggregating and correlating telemetry across enterprise platforms, including SolarWinds, ServiceNow, and VMware vCenter.Preferred Qualifications:Splunk Enterprise Certified Architect and/or Splunk ITSI Certified Administrator certification.Experience with CNCF observability tools within secure hybrid and multi-cloud environments, including Azure and AWS.Knowledge of the Risk Management Framework (RMF) and Authorization to Operate (ATO) processes for AI/ML-enabled solutions.Salary Disclosure:Actual salary will be based on a variety of factors including but not limited to experience, geographic location, contract affordability, internal equity, education, and certifications.The upper end of the salary range may be reserved for individuals who have demonstrated tenure with the company, seniority, and proven excellent performance. This includes factors such as education, certifications, and extensive/unique experience beyond what is required.EEO Statement:ValidaTek is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status.Applicants who are selected for employment will be required to verify authorization to work in the United States.Offers of employment will be contingent upon passing a post-offer background check.Job SummaryRequisition Number: AIOPS001903Job Category: Information SystemsSchedule: Full-Time