Senior AI Systems Engineer

Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA) delivers high-impact, technical solutions to complex national security issues. With over 50 years of business expertise and consistent growth, we are known for continuous innovation for our government customers, in both the US and abroad. Our exceptionally talented team is highly collaborative in spirit and practice, producing Results that Matter. Come work with the best! We offer opportunity, unique challenges, and clear-sighted commitment to the mission. SPA: Objective. Responsive. Trusted.

The Space and Intelligence Division provides professional services to the US Space Force, Combatant Commands, Intelligence Community, and NASA. Our work includes enterprise architectural assessments, systems engineering and integration, test, planning and execution, cost estimating and analysis, acquisition support, and cybersecurity. We are trusted partners developing approaches and concepts to meet emerging high priority needs, assessing cutting-edge technologies, and supporting capabilities for our National Defense. Come join the fastest growing Division at Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc.!

The Space Systems Group (SSG), part of SPA's Space and Intelligence Division, provides timely and objective assessments and recommendations integrating technical, operational, programmatic, policy and business analysis. We focus on our key clients in the Space community including the US Space Force's Space Systems Command (USSF/SSC), one of the three designated Field Commands under USSF. We work tirelessly to provide integrated solutions based on information and communications throughout the chain of command. We provide clear and consistent analysis and recommendations which are aligned to strategic and leadership goals while balancing the ability to execute on time and on budget within the technical communities. Come join an organization responsible for being a key enabler of Spacepower!

SPA has an immediate need for a Senior AI Systems Engineer.

SPA is seeking a Senior AI Systems Engineer to design, build, and operationalize AI capabilities across secure, mission-critical systems and platforms. This role is execution-heavy and hands-on, focused on transforming frontier AI capabilities into reliable, auditable, production-grade solutions that scale across teams and environments.

Please note this is not an AI research role. You will not be training foundation models or pushing theoretical boundaries. Instead, you will act as a senior engineer who understands how to apply modern AI technologies responsibly and effectively by building agents, services, and platform capabilities that measurably improve system performance, operational awareness, automation, and developer productivity. You will work under the direction of senior engineering leadership (Chief Engineer, Chief Architect, Integration Lead) and collaborate closely with platform engineers, software teams, security stakeholders, and operators. Your success will be measured by working software in production, adoption by teams, and the establishment of repeatable, secure AI patterns.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Applied AI Systems Engineering

• Design and implement production AI-enabled services using modern foundation models via secure APIs.
• Build AI agents and agent-orchestrated workflows that support decision-making, automation, and system intelligence.
• Develop reference implementations (code, patterns, architectures) that other teams can adopt and extend.
• Integrate AI with structured and unstructured data sources, including knowledge graphs, embeddings, retrieval pipelines, and system telemetry.
• Implement human-in-the-loop mechanisms for oversight, escalation, and trust in high-consequence workflows.

Platform AI Enablement

• Expand AI usage beyond chat interfaces into platform capabilities, such as:
  • log and telemetry analysis
  • operational anomaly detection
  • self-healing and automated remediation
  • runbook generation and improvement
  • documentation synthesis and maintenance
• Enable downstream development teams to safely consume AI capabilities within their own applications through shared services, APIs, and patterns.
• Establish reusable approaches for AI integration across environments, rather than one-off implementations.

Security, Responsibility, and Reliability

• Design AI solutions that operate in secure and controlled environments, with strong attention to:
  • access control and least privilege
  • auditability and traceability
  • data handling boundaries
  • logging and monitoring
• Embed Responsible AI principles into system design, including transparency, controllability, and failure awareness.
• Partner with security and platform teams to ensure AI capabilities meet operational, compliance, and accreditation expectations.

Hands-On Engineering

• Write production code weekly, not just architecture diagrams.
• Prototype, harden, and productionize AI-enabled capabilities.
• Participate in code reviews, design reviews, and technical decision-making.
• Balance speed with rigor-moving fast without breaking trust.

This is a remote/hybrid position. You will be expected to work on-site at least 2 days per week in either Colorado Springs, CO or El Segundo, CA due to the fast pace, quick-turn nature of the job and the persistent need to access secure networks. Thus, residing in comfortable driving distance of either Colorado Springs, CO or El Segundo, CA should be considered.

About the Must Haves

• US Citizen and current active DoD Secret clearance
• Minimum 8 years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong foundation in backend or platform engineering
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• Demonstrated experience shipping and maintaining production systems
• Strong proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, Go, Java, TypeScript)
• Applied AI & LLM Integration
• Hands-on experience integrating foundation models via APIs (e.g., OpenAI-compatible or equivalent services)
• Experience building AI agents, orchestration workflows, or tool-using models
• Familiarity with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), embeddings, vector search, and knowledge-based AI patterns
• Practical understanding of AI failure modes, hallucinations, and mitigation strategies
• Systems & Platform Skills
• Experience designing or contributing to platform services, shared tooling, or developer enablement capabilities
• Familiarity with cloud-native architectures, containerization, and service-based systems
• Experience working with logs, metrics, telemetry, or operational analytics
• Security & Responsibility
• Experience implementing systems in secure, regulated, or high-consequence environments
• Understanding of access control, audit logging, and secure API design
• Familiarity with Responsible AI concepts such as human-in-the-loop, explainability, and governance (practical application, not policy theory)

At SPA, we strive to deliver a robust total compensation package that will attract and retain top talent. Elements of the compensation package include competitive base pay and variable compensation opportunities.

SPA provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance programs, and a number of programs that provide for both paid and unpaid time away from work. The specific programs and options available to any given employee may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, etc.

Please note that the salary information shown below is a general guideline only. Salaries are commensurate with experience and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations. Pay Transparency Range: 160k - 235k