Software Engineer (AI Integration)

Location: Hybrid, with an average of 1–2 days per week at the Columbia, MD office. U.S. citizenship is required, and the role requires obtaining and maintaining a U.S. Government Security Clearance.

Salary: $115,199–$145,000 per year.

Company

hirify.global develops cloud-based services, software and systems engineering, cyber capabilities, data science solutions, and innovative software for clients.

What you will do

• Design and develop Python-based components for the core agentic platform supporting the proprietary JCRSD Data Lake tool.
• Deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications in Kubernetes environments.
• Build Model Context Protocol servers and reusable AI skills for function calling and tool use across databases, microservices, and external APIs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to connect Java-based APIs to autonomous AI agents.
• Implement enterprise AI guardrails, including data privacy, sensitive-data scrubbing, prompt-injection defenses, and output validation.
• Develop automated testing pipelines for non-deterministic AI outputs and troubleshoot systems under multiple deadlines.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance are required. Current Secret or Top Secret clearance may also be considered.
• At least 5 years of Software Engineering experience with a strong focus on Python backend development and a related bachelor’s degree; or 3 years of relevant experience with a related master’s degree; or a high school diploma or equivalent with 9 years of relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience deploying and managing containerized workloads in Kubernetes.
• Hands-on experience integrating commercial LLM APIs such as OpenAI or Anthropic, or open-source models, into production backend applications.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, agents, function calling or tool use, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
• Experience designing enterprise APIs, RESTful web services, and microservices architectures.
• Experience with configuration management tools such as Git, CI/CD pipelines, and Docker.
• Comfort working on a Linux command line.
• Ability to work in a hybrid environment at the Columbia, MD office and adapt to schedule changes.

Nice to have

• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance.
• Familiarity with Java frameworks such as Spring or Java-based software capabilities.
• Familiarity with Python-based AI integration frameworks including LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, or AutoGen.
• Experience with vector databases, semantic caching, and AI observability tools.
• Experience with NiFi, Kafka, and cloud infrastructure such as AWS or Azure.
• Experience with SQL, distributed, or NoSQL databases, including Postgres or MySQL.
• Experience or familiarity with Big Data Platforms or Data Lake architectures.
• DoD 8140 / 8570 IAT Level II compliance certifications, which may be required by the customer.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work with flexibility to work from home when needed.
• 100% paid employee premiums for healthcare, vision, and dental plans.
• 10% 401(k) benefit.
• Generous paid time off and 10 paid holidays.
• Education and training allowances.