AI Innovation Engineer

First seen Oct 24, 2026 · open on iCIMS as of Nov 6, 2026

$120,000–$180,000Mclean, VA

The AI Innovation Engineer enables public-sector client teams to adopt AI by advising stakeholders, delivering tailored education, and rapidly building mission-focused proofs-of-concept and demos.

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At a glance

Posted base pay

$120K–$180KLevel with the median

Midpoint $150K · median $150K

Median $150K

This job$120K–$180KMid-level FDE postings105 postings · middle 50% of posted pay$122K–$162K

The work

Builds what the customer runs

Balance Mostly building

Project stages

Pre-sales (not covered)
Proof of concept
Implementation (not covered)
Operations (not covered)

Coding: Prototypes and scripts
Builds for: External customers
Level: Mid
Role: Technical lead

What they ask for

Experience

3+ yearssoftware engineering, data engineering, or applied AI/ML roles

Background

Software engineering
Implementation and data engineering

Do you meet what the posting states?

The posting asks for 3+ years. How many do you have?

The posting reads as a mid-level role. What level are you at now?

The job is in Mclean, VA. Could you work there?

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Conditions

Location: Mclean, VA
Pay: Pay details
Steampunk relies on several factors to determine salary, including but not limited to geographic location, contractual requirements, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. The projected compensation range for this position is $120,000 to $180,000. The estimate displayed represents a typical annual salary range for this position. Annual salary is just one aspect of Steampunk’s total compensation package for employees. Learn more about additional Steampunk benefits here.

What you’ll do

Advise clients on modern AI capabilities, best practices, and responsible use.
Develop AI education materials and lead enablement events.
Design and implement mission-specific AI prototypes and proofs-of-concept.
Integrate demos with cloud platforms and reusable RAG components.

What you’ll bring

Hold a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, AI, ML, or a related field.
Have 3+ years of software engineering, data engineering, or applied AI/ML experience.
Demonstrate hands-on experience with GenAI models, RAG frameworks, cloud AI services, and vector databases.
Have strong Python skills and experience building data pipelines, API wrappers, and demo front-ends.