Senior AI/ML Engineer

Looking for an opportunity to make an impact?At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainably. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.Your greatest work is ahead! Leidos’ Defense Systems,Advanced Sensors and Protective Technologies Portfolio is seeking a talented Senior AI/ML Engineer to integrate generative AI and agentic AI systems into existing software products. Working within a multidisciplinary team, this role spans the evaluation and integration of large language models (LLMs), vision-language models (VLMs), and multimodal LLMs (mLLMs), as well as the design and governance of agentic AI solutions.The Advanced Sensors and Protective Technologies portfolio develops and evaluates EO/IR sensor systems and protective capabilities that enhance threat detection, survivability, and mission effectiveness. This includes safeguarding mission‑critical systems through advanced microelectronic hardware assurance to ensure components remain trusted and secure. We advance sensor system technologies and hardware assurance through real‑world testing, modeling and simulation, and performance analysis to support the transition of emerging capabilities into operational systems.If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading! Leidos Defense Systems Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions. To explore and learn more, click here!Are you ready to make an impact? Share your resume with us today!Primary Responsibilities.​Lead the integration of LLMs, VLMs, and mLLMs into existing software products and platformsDesign and execute fine-tuning strategies for pretrained models (LoRA, QLoRA, RLHF/DPO)Architect agentic AI solutions: agent/skill design, MCP tool/server integrations, and multi-agent orchestration workflowsSet organizational standards for prompt engineering to optimize agent reasoning and output qualityLead the development of test harnesses, evaluation suites, and red-teaming/adversarial testing for agentic systems prior to production releaseOwn end-to-end deployment and operations of agentic AI systems – CI/CD, monitoring, versioning and rollback, and lifecycle managementCollaborate with software engineers, product owners, security, and data teams to align capabilities with product and compliance requirementsPresent architectures and lifecycle strategies to technical leadership and stakeholdersBasic Qualifications. Must be able and willing to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret Clearance (U.S. Citizenship required)Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or related field and 8+ years of experience. 5+ years of relevant experience working with AI/ML, including hands-on production integration of LLMs/VLMsProven track record managing agentic AI systems through a full lifecycleStrong experience with agentic frameworks and patterns (MCP, tool/function calling, etc.)Familiarity with model documentation practices (model cards, versioned model registries) and AI governance requirements in regulated environmentsProficiency with Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face Transformers)Experience with prompt engineering and evaluation methodologies for generative AIUnderstanding of deployment practices (containerization, APIs, CI/CD, versioning for ML/agentic systems)Ability to lead the development of technical solutions for AI/ML or agentic systems and mentor other team membersStrong written and verbal communication skillsPreferred Qualifications. Active DoD SECRET clearance or above.Experience applying mLLMs and VLMsExperience with MLOps/AgentOps tooling (MLflow, etc.)Familiarity with vector databases and RAG architecturesExperience fine-tuning transformer-based modelsExperience with cloud/government cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GovCloud, IL levels)Experience presenting technical strategies to leadership or customersIf you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.Original Posting:September 14, 2026For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.Pay Range:Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.SummaryLocation: Huntsville, ALType: Full time