Who We Are
Aptima is a pioneering technology leader in the national security sector. Our mission is to shape the future of national security by engineering innovative solutions that blend technological advancements with human capabilities, transforming how individuals and teams train, develop, and perform in critical mission environments.
Our organizational culture is grounded in our core values: Integrity, Ingenuity, Excellence, Respect, Engagement, Teamwork. At Aptima, we focus on the human component, a crucial area often overlooked by engineering firms, to drive impactful innovations.
Key Responsibilities
Advanced Research Engineering
- Architect and develop cutting-edge software systems to support advanced AI research and experimental prototypes.
- Collaborate with scientists and researchers to turn novel algorithms and concepts into functioning prototype systems.
- Design and implement adaptable research platforms for rapid experimentation and iteration.
- Contribute to innovative AI-enabled capabilities in areas like human-AI collaboration, synthetic media analysis, influence modeling, and agent-based systems.
Prototype System Architecture
- Lead the design and development of software architectures for complex research prototypes, including APIs, data pipelines, model integration layers, and evaluation frameworks.
- Create modular and scalable systems for faster integration of new models and analytics by Aptima researchers and external collaborators.
- Ensure a balance between swift research iterations and sound engineering practices.
- Support experimentation of emerging AI methodologies, such as agentic systems and multimodal analytics.
AI Systems Development and Deployment
- Implement and integrate machine learning and AI models into research testbeds for internal evaluation and collaboration with external systems.
- Develop workflows for model training, evaluation, and comparative analysis.
- Create containerized research environments using tools like Docker for reproducible experimentation.
- Prepare prototype systems for technology demos with sponsors such as DARPA, DoW laboratories, and operational partners.
Technical Leadership & Collaboration
- Provide technical leadership on R&D projects, shaping system architectures and technical strategies in collaboration with engineering leadership.
- Work alongside multidisciplinary teams, including AI researchers, cognitive scientists, and engineers.
- Mentor junior engineers and research staff in software architecture, engineering practices, and scalable research infrastructure.
- Engage in customer interactions, technical reviews, demonstrations, and collaborative research activities.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
- 6+ years of professional software engineering experience in developing complex technical systems.
- Strong expertise in Python and modern software engineering practices.
- Experience in building complex research prototypes or experimental systems.
- Familiarity with AI/ML technologies and model integration in software systems.
- Background in architecting modular software systems and designing APIs.
- Hands-on experience with containerization (like Docker) and reproducible research environments.
- Aptitude for working in ambiguous, exploratory environments and translating research ideas into functional software.
- Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate with researchers and external partners.
- Willingness to travel for integration, demonstration, or customer activities.
Nice to Have
- Experience with DARPA, DoW, or similar government-sponsored research programs.
- Familiarity with large language models, agentic AI systems, or multimodal machine learning.
- Experience building research testbeds or evaluation frameworks.
- Background in distributed systems, high-performance computing, or scalable experimentation infrastructure.
- Experience contributing to technical publications and conference submissions.
- Exposure to cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) or hybrid research infrastructure.
- A keen interest in working at the intersection of advanced AI research and national security applications.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state, or local law.
Salary: $142,000 - $153,000/year