Junior AI Engineer

Synergy ECP • Columbia, MD

1d • $100,000 - $135,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Synergy ECP is seeking a motivated AI Engineer to support the design, development, and deployment of AI/ML solutions in mission-driven government environments. This role is ideal for an early-career engineer who wants hands-on experience building production-grade AI systems while working within secure, compliance-driven federal ecosystems.
The Junior AI Engineer will contribute to model development, data engineering workflows, experimentation, and AI system integration under the guidance of senior engineers and architects.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, or related technical field
• 0–3 years of experience in AI/ML, software engineering, or data engineering
• Proficiency in Python
• Experience with one or more ML libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn)
• Data preprocessing and feature engineering
• Model evaluation metrics
• Git-based version control
• Understanding of basic statistics and machine learning concepts
• Strong problem-solving skills and willingness to learn
• Ability to work in a collaborative team environment
• U.S. Citizenship (if required for federal work)

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with NLP, LLMs, or generative AI systems
• Familiarity with vector databases or embeddings
• Exposure to MLOps tools (MLflow, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines)
• Experience in AWS, Azure, or GovCloud environments
• Knowledge of data governance and secure development practices
• Prior internship or project experience in AI/ML
• Active security clearance (if applicable)

Responsibilities

• Support development, training, and evaluation of machine learning and AI models
• Assist in building data pipelines to support model training and inference
• Work with structured and unstructured datasets (text, logs, documents, etc.)
• Contribute to experimentation frameworks and model benchmarking
• Support integration of AI capabilities into production systems and APIs
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented Python code
• Participate in code reviews and collaborative engineering processes
• Assist in MLOps activities (model versioning, monitoring, CI/CD integration)
• Ensure compliance with security and governance requirements in federal environments
• Document technical approaches and support customer briefings as needed

Benefits

• Compensation: We offer highly competitive compensation that is consistently recognized by our employees as being generous!
• Health & Retirement: We offer a comprehensive Health Benefits package and 401K Retirement plan so you can take care of yourself and your family... both now and in the future. Other health-related benefits include People Partners who will help you navigate both personal and professional worlds, as well as strong wellness related resources offered through our healthcare provider.
• Education: Individual growth is a priority at Synergy ECP. Employees are encouraged to take advantage of our company-sponsored continuing education program so they can get their degree or that next certification needed to propel them towards the next level. Not sure what's best for your career plans, we'll help you navigate it all!
• Work/Life Balance: A healthy work/life balance is essential for building and executing your work effectively at Synergy ECP, but it’s also necessary to allow you the room to pursue everything you want to develop in your personal life. We offer a generous Paid Time Off benefit and 11 paid holidays a year. Synergy ECP also provides flexible work options that work with your schedule and lifestyle.
• Philanthropy: With the help of our amazing employees, Synergy ECP participates annually in building awareness, volunteering and contributing to dozens of organizations. We believe that giving back creates a sense of purpose, engagement, and fulfillment. Have a cause you are passionate about? We bet you'll find others here that care about it just as much!
• Great Corporate Facilities: Come by our corporate office and enjoy a weekly happy hour, take a drive to nearby restaurants, grab a snack or coffee in our café, or utilize our collaborative office space and conference rooms.
• SkillBridge: Our SkillBridge Program takes the incredible experience our servicemembers already have and shows them how to apply it within corporate environments. We are fanatical about helping our Military!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level