Software Engineer; AI Infrastructure

Overview

Big Bear.ai is seeking a Software Engineer to support our AI infrastructure team. In this role, you'll help build and maintain the platform that provides the foundation for the customer's AI capabilities, focusing on inference services while supporting the broader ecosystem of AI-enabled applications.

This role is intended for experienced engineers who can independently design, implement, and operate scalable AI infrastructure components.

• Design, implement, and optimize infrastructure for AI model inference at scale
• Support the development and maintenance of production AI services and applications, including retrieval augmented generation (RAG), autonomous agents, and emerging technologies
• Navigate ambiguity and define solutions for under specified systems and requirements
• Drive adoption of new technologies and practices across engineering teams
• Implement monitoring, logging, and observability solutions for AI services
• Automate infrastructure provisioning and configuration using Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) principles
• Ensure high availability, reliability, and performance of AI platform components
• Contribute to security best practices for AI systems and data
• Provide technical guidance and informal mentorship to junior engineers

• 8+ years of relevant experience, or Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline + 4+ years of experience
• Clearance: TS/SCI w/Poly
• Proven experience building and maintaining production systems at scale
• Experience with high-volume web application architecture and performance optimization
• Strong background in systems integration across diverse technologies and platforms
• Hands‑on experience with cloud engineering in AWS
• Proficiency with Kubernetes administration and deployment patterns
• Strong Python programming skills
• Experience implementing observability solutions (APM, Open Telemetry, Grafana, Prometheus)
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and Dev Ops practices
• Strong change management and organizational influence skills
• Ability to thrive in ambiguous environments and create structure where needed
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills

• Experience with AI inference serving technologies (vLLM, LiteLLM, etc.)
• Previous experience with agentic frameworks (Lang Chain)
• Knowledge of vector databases and embedding systems
• Experience with high-performance computing or distributed systems

Big Bear.ai is a leading provider of AI-powered decision intelligence solutions for national security, supply chain management, and digital identity. Customers and partners rely on Big Bear.ai’s predictive analytics capabilities in highly complex, distributed, mission-based operating environments. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Big Bear.ai is a public company traded on the NYSE under the symbol BBAI. For more information, visit (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). and follow Big Bear.ai

on Linked In:  and X: @Big Bearai.

Big Bear.ai is an Equal opportunity employer all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.