Senior Applied AI Engineer

Columbia, MD · Government/Military

Senior Applied AI Engineer
Location: Columbia, MD or Annapolis Junction, MD
Clearance Required: TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph

Intezra Inc. is a highly technical start-up that specializes in cyber development and engineering—from tactical-level tools and capabilities to enterprise-level infrastructure and operations. Our leadership team and staff have helped solve the most complex challenges for our clients’ most critical missions for over 15 years.

Intezra, Inc. is seeking a Senior Applied AI Engineer to help redefine what’s possible at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity. This role isn’t about implementing known solutions—it’s about inventing new ones. You’ll architect, build, and deploy production-grade AI systems that actually work under real-world mission pressure.

You’re the type of engineer who was building AI agents before it was mainstream. You don’t just write prompts—you obsess over the prompt architecture. You understand the gap between demo magic and operational reality and have the technical scars to prove it.

Embedded with cyber mission teams, you’ll push the boundaries of AI’s role in operations. This is a hands-on, deep-tech role where success is measured in mission impact—not just prototypes.

Responsibilities:

Architect and deploy resilient, production-ready AI systems for real-world cyber operations.
Build fault-tolerant model serving infrastructure (e.g., MCP servers) capable of handling scale and edge-case failures.
Design and develop agent orchestration systems that coordinate complex workflows across multiple models and tools.
Lead exploration into novel AI integrations—tackling challenges where no established patterns exist.
Create robust APIs and integration layers that sustain mission-critical uptime.
Engineer advanced prompt strategies tailored to operational and analytical environments.
Mentor junior developers while maintaining high personal throughput and technical excellence.
Guide architectural decisions that balance bleeding-edge innovation with system reliability.
Drive deep technical discussions on AI system behavior, model failure modes, and mission alignment.
Rapidly prototype proof-of-concepts demonstrating previously impossible capabilities.
Establish and evangelize best practices for AI development within cyber and intelligence constraints.

Skills Requirements:

12+ years of software engineering experience, with expert-level Python.
Extensive hands-on experience building and scaling AI-powered applications in production environments.
Deep understanding of modern AI architectures (agents, RAG pipelines, tool use, function calling, etc.).
Demonstrated experience integrating multiple AI services and managing their failure modes.
Proven experience with MCP servers or similar model-hosting infrastructure.
Advanced prompt engineering capabilities with demonstrable real-world outcomes.
Expertise in building resilient distributed systems and async workflows.
Strong debugging skills—especially for non-deterministic AI behavior.
Rapid prototyping ability that doesn’t compromise on long-term maintainability.
Track record of solving previously unsolved technical problems.

Nice to Haves:

Experience applying AI to cybersecurity or intelligence missions.
Prior contributions to AI frameworks, developer tools, or platform infrastructure.
Experience fine-tuning models or building domain-specific AI capabilities.
Familiarity with adversarial AI threats and security considerations in AI systems.
Published research or public speaking experience on applied AI topics.
Leadership experience driving high-ambiguity technical initiatives.
Active involvement in the AI engineering community or open-source ecosystem.

Minimum Qualifications:

12+ years of software engineering experience.
Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (or 4 additional years of experience in lieu of a degree).
TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph required.

Benefits Overview:

At Intezra, Inc., we offer a well-rounded benefits package to give our employees peace of mind and freedom of choice.

Medical: Three CareFirst medical plans available. Intezra pays up to 100% of healthcare premiums and up to 100% of deductible amount depending on plan selection—for employees and their dependents.
Dental & Vision: Intezra pays 100% for CareFirst Dental and Vision plans for employees and their dependents.
401k: 15% company contribution (no match required).
PTO: 160 hours annually, with increases based on seniority.
Holidays: 12 Floating Holidays.
Other: 4 Code Red Days.

Compensation:

Salary at Intezra Inc. is determined by various factors, including but not limited to location, education, experience, technical skill, and organizational requirements. The projected compensation range for this position is $210,000 to $260,000 (annualized USD).

EEO Statement:

Intezra Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, pregnancy, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.