Software Engineer - AI Applications

Why RTI

RTI International is an independent, scientific research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. Our vision is to address the world's most critical problems with technical and science-based solutions in pursuit of a better future. Clients rely on us to answer questions that demand an objective and multidisciplinary approach-one that integrates expertise across social, statistical, data, and laboratory sciences, engineering, and other technical disciplines to solve the world's most challenging problems.

We believe in the promise of science and technical solutions, and we push ourselves every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses in the US and around the world. If you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you.

A Software Engineer with experience building cloud-native applications and applying AI technologies to practical business, research or client needs. You have contributed to systems beyond the proof-of-concept stage and understand the engineering work required to make AI-enabled applications reliable, secure and maintainable.

You are comfortable working through ambiguity, explaining technical trade-offs and collaborating with researchers, data scientists and software engineers. You can distinguish between a compelling demonstration and a solution that is ready to support real users.

You have personally contributed to building and deploying AI-enabled applications, not just experimenting with models or using AI tools as an end user. You can clearly explain the systems you worked on, your individual contribution, the technical decisions you made, and how you evaluated whether the solution worked.

You will work closely with internal teams and clients to contribute to the design, development, and deployment of AI-powered solutions across sectors such as health, energy, and education. You will help translate business and research needs into technical implementations, build and refine multi-step AI workflows, and support the delivery of scalable, secure systems in enterprise environments.

You will contribute to new systems and enhancements that integrate with existing infrastructure, collaborating with colleagues and partners to deliver practical solutions that can be tested, deployed, maintained, and supported over time.

In this role, you will support the development of AI systems and enhancements that integrate with RTI's research infrastructure-including survey data collection platforms, systematic review pipelines, data quality assurance systems, and proposal development workflows-working closely with data scientists, domain researchers, and software developers to ensure solutions meet the rigor expected in federally regulated and research-driven environments.

This position offers flexibility to be based at our headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC, or to work remotely.

As part of the interview process, candidates will be asked to discuss a system they personally helped build. The discussion will cover their individual contribution, key technical decisions, challenges encountered, evaluation approach and results. Candidates will also participate in a job-related technical discussion and exercise.

• AI System & Agent Development. Design, build, and maintain AI-enabled systems and multi-step workflows, including retrieval, tool use, orchestration, and iterative improvement, with a focus on production readiness and maintainability.
• Enterprise & Research Infrastructure Integration. Contribute to AI systems that integrate with and extend RTI's existing platforms—such as survey data collection, systematic review pipelines, data quality assurance tools, and proposal workflows—working within established architectures and constraints.
• Cloud Native Engineering. Develop and deploy cloud-native services using APIs, containers, and modern CI/CD practices, contributing to scalable, secure, and cost-aware AI solutions in enterprise environments.
• Workflow Translation & Automation. Translate research, business, and client needs into…