AI Model SME

About the Role As an AI Model SME, you’ll design, test, optimize, and operationalize AI models across cloud, edge, and hybrid environments to support evolving mission needs. You will drive technical direction for mission‑critical AI solutions, implement robust deployment pipelines, and ensure secure, scalable data pipelines and model lifecycle management. What You'll Do

• Design, test, optimize, and operationalize AI/ML models across cloud, edge, and hybrid environments
• Select best‑fit architectures, implement deployment pipelines, and integrate models with enterprise and mission systems
• Collaborate with data engineers, data scientists, cloud/network architects, and ISSE partners
• Evaluate emerging AI/ML frameworks, guide feature engineering approaches, and support fine‑tuning/retraining cycles
• Implement monitoring frameworks to detect performance drift and operational issues
• Develop and maintain secure, scalable infrastructure and high‑quality data pipelines
• Provide technical leadership on model lifecycle strategy for mission environments What We're Looking For
• 6+ years of engineering experience
• Experience developing, training, validating, and deploying AI/ML models across cloud, edge, or hybrid environments
• Experience with data preprocessing, feature engineering, and exploratory data analysis
• Experience optimizing AI/ML models including compression, pruning, quantization, and distributed training
• Understanding of computing, storage, and networking requirements across model training, tuning, and inference phases
• Knowledge of statistical modeling, ML workflows, and model evaluation techniques
• Ability to design and implement model deployment pipelines and MLOps workflows
• Ability to implement monitoring frameworks for detecting model drift and performance degradation
• TS/SCI clearance with a polygraph
• HS diploma or GED and 6+ years of data science/AI system development experience, or Bachelor’s degree and 4+ years of data science/AI system development experience Nice To Have
• Experience with distributed compute frameworks (Ray, Spark, Horovod)
• Experience with cloud‑native AI platforms (AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP Vertex AI)
• Experience deploying AI/ML models to edge devices or in tactical/operational environments
• Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Scikit‑learn
• Experience in mission‑focused or national security environments
• Experience with vector databases, data lakehouse, or streaming data systems
• Python programming experience
• Experience evaluating new AI architectures (LLMs, diffusion models) and conducting model benchmarking
• Knowledge of secure AI engineering practices (adversarial robustness, model governance, NIST AI RMF) Compensation & Benefits
• Salary range: $99,000.00 to $225,000.00 (annualized, USD)
• Booz Allen benefits include health, life, disability, retirement, paid leave, professional development, tuition assistance, work‑life programs, and dependent care
• Participation in Booz Allen’s benefit programs requires full‑time or part‑time status with at least 20 hours/week; other thresholds may apply for select offerings