AI ML Engineer

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Kforce has a client in Lakeland, FL that is seeking an AI ML Engineer to spearhead the buildout of our internal, company-wide compliance AI ecosystem. This role operates in a strict, privacy-first, and highly regulated environment. The AI ML Engineer will be responsible for designing and deploying enterprise-grade AI solutions using open-source models engineered entirely on our internal, high-performance hardware clusters-ensuring absolute data isolation with zero reliance on external cloud or SaaS-based AI APIs. If you excel at extracting maximum performance from local silicon and architecting secure, air-gapped AI systems, this is your next project.

Duties:
* Architect Local AI Infrastructure: Design, deploy, and optimize open-source LLMs and frameworks tailored for our custom bare-metal/private hardware clusters
* Build Core AI Pipelines: Construct and maintain robust local model inference pipelines, advanced fine-tuning/embedding workflows, and highly secure Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems
* Optimize for Bare Metal: Drive maximum efficiency in latency, throughput, and compute resource utilization (CPU/GPU/memory tracking)
* Enforce Complete Data Isolation: Ensure all AI capabilities integrate seamlessly with internal data sources and compliance workflows without violating PII or regulatory constraints
* Evaluate the Open-Source Stack: Select and implement local-first tooling across the AI ecosystem, including vector databases, orchestration frameworks, and model serving layers
* Collaborate on Strategy: Partner with engineering leadership and compliance stakeholders to translate complex regulatory requirements into production-ready AI solutions
* May perform other additional duties and responsibilities as assigned

REQUIREMENTS:
* Local-First AI Expertise: Proven track record deploying and optimizing open-source LLMs (e.g., LLaMA, Mistral) in non-cloud, restricted, or air-gapped private infrastructures
* Deep Framework Proficiency: Heavy hands-on experience with PyTorch, Hugging Face, and orchestration layers like LangChain, LlamaIndex, or equivalent frameworks
* Vector & Retrieval Mastery: Direct experience engineering production-grade RAG architectures, embeddings, semantic search, and local vector databases (e.g., FAISS, Qdrant, Milvus, Chroma)
* Containerization & Compute Infrastructure: Strong experience containerizing AI workloads via Docker/Kubernetes and managing dedicated GPU-based compute environments
* Advanced ML Concepts: Solid understanding of fine-tuning techniques (LoRA/QLoRA) versus prompt engineering, and model quantization formats (GGUF, AWQ, EXL2)
* Autonomy: Ability to build, test, and iterate rapidly in an isolated development sandbox with zero dependency on third-party cloud APIs
* Experience operating within heavily regulated or compliance-driven industries (e.g., high-governance data environments, fintech, or legal-tech)
* Familiarity with local-first agentic workflows, Model Context Protocol (MCP), or building fully internal developer copilots and autonomous knowledge systems

The pay range is the lowest to highest compensation we reasonably in good faith believe we would pay at posting for this role. We may ultimately pay more or less than this range. Employee pay is based on factors like relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, location, performance, union contract and business needs. This range may be modified in the future.

We offer comprehensive benefits including medical/dental/vision insurance, HSA, FSA, 401(k), and life, disability & ADD insurance to eligible employees. Salaried personnel receive paid time off. Hourly employees are not eligible for paid time off unless required by law. Hourly employees on a Service Contract Act project are eligible for paid sick leave.

Note: Pay is not considered compensation until it is earned, vested and determinable. The amount and availability of any compensation remains in Kforce's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified in its discretion consistent with the law.

This job is not eligible for bonuses, incentives or commissions.

Kforce is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status.

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