Senior AI​/ML Engineer

Join a Mission That Matters

Torch.

AI builds the government’s
AI-native control layer
—a foundational data and intelligence capability designed to give the United States enduring ownership over how knowledge is created, managed, and applied in mission-critical environments. Our vision is simple and profound:
ensure the U.S.—not a vendor—operates its own AI infrastructure to make decisive, real-time operational decisions.

We work at the center of national security, helping agencies transform data into actionable knowledge across domains including information advantage, ISR, joint effects, force protection, and mission support. If you’re driven to build technology that strengthens U.S. defense readiness and protects national interests, Torch.

AI offers an opportunity to make meaningful impact at national scale.

Torch.

AI operates at the intersection of advanced AI, secure systems, and real-world operations. We solve complex, high-stakes problems by building scalable, modular technology that reduces cognitive burden, improves mission performance, and delivers timely, reliable, predictive intelligence.

Here, you’ll collaborate with a diverse team of engineers, data experts, veterans, and mission practitioners. You’ll have the autonomy to own meaningful work and the support of teammates who share context openly, challenge assumptions, and think creatively. Every day brings something different—early prototypes, production deployments, mission support, or scaling next-generation capabilities.

We’re a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where curiosity, adaptability, and a deep commitment to national security drive everything we do.

• Lead the design and implementation of production-grade ML and NLP pipelines
  , including transformer-based and embedding-driven systems.
• Architect and scale retrieval-augmented generation workflows, vector search systems, and tool-use agent architectures.
• Drive the full MLOps lifecycle: training pipelines, deployment strategies, observability, versioning, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with data engineering and platform teams to ensure resilient, scalable ML infrastructure.
• Provide technical leadership: mentor team members, review designs, and guide ML engineering practices.
• Collaborate with architects, product leaders, and stakeholders to shape technical strategy and roadmap alignment.
• Lead research and evaluation efforts in areas such as vector similarity search, domain-specific model adaptation, and emerging agentic techniques.
• Contribute to cross-functional initiatives around platform reliability, cloud infrastructure, and large-scale data workflows.

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years of software/ML engineering experience, with 3+ years in NLP/LLMs.
• Proficiency in Python and deep experience with ML/NLP libraries (Transformers, spaCy, scikit-learn).
• Strong knowledge of LLMs, embeddings, semantic search, and retrieval architectures.
• Proven success delivering ML systems to production—data prep through deployment and monitoring.
• Experience with cloud architecture, distributed systems, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and CI/CD.
• Ability to lead teams, influence technical direction, and communicate with both engineers and executives.
• Experience with multi-agent systems, graph-based retrieval, or advanced RAG techniques is a plus, not mandatory.
• Experience with IaC, streaming platforms, or big-data tooling is a plus, not required.
• Defense industry experience is preferred but not strictly required.

Some roles require an active
Secret
,
Top Secret
, or
Top Secret/SCI
clearance. If you do not currently hold an active clearance but believe you may be eligible, we encourage you to apply as sponsorship is also available.

We hire for roles at our headquarters in
Leawood, KS
, and for hybrid/remote positions in
Arlington, VA, Washington, DC, and Maryland (DMV)region. Some roles may require limited travel (