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If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation to complete your application, we're here to help. Please reach out to us at talent@bixal.com and let us know how we can support you. You do not need to share personal details or disclose the nature of your request.  You can expect a response from a team member within 24 hours during the regular work week and on the next operating day during the weekend or holidays.

Why Bixal?

Bixal is a consulting company headquartered in Fairfax, VA, working alongside governments and organizations to help them deliver better services and experiences to the communities they serve. Using evidence-based knowledge and technology, Bixal empowers clients to deliver on their missions more effectively by fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Our values:

• People-First: Emphasizing the importance of people in all aspects of work.
• Collaboration and Transparency: Valuing teamwork and open communication.
• Growth Mindset: Encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.
• Creating Lasting Impact: Focusing on meaningful outcomes and positive change.

About the role:

Bixal is seeking a Senior AI Integration Lead to guide a flagship modernization effort for the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this senior role, you’ll set the AI strategy, oversee the selection and deployment of models, and lead the build-out of reusable AI services that power web, mobile, and DevOps workflows for millions of Veterans and caregivers and ensuring every solution is secure, accessible, and auditable.

This is a full-time position contingent on contract award by our client, with a defined performance period of one year with two one-year option periods. This role offers you a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on a project that aligns with Bixal’s mission of delivering innovative, human-centered solutions. While the role has a fixed duration, we are committed to transparency and collaboration, keeping you informed about contract updates and new opportunities. At Bixal, we support your professional journey, ensuring your experience reflects our inclusive, purpose-driven culture and prepares you for future success.

Compensation:

The salary range for this role is $145,000 – $155,000. In the spirit of transparency, most offers tend to land near the midpoint of the range. We make compensation decisions thoughtfully, considering your experience, the skills you bring, and our commitment to internal equity. Fairness and transparency are core to how we operate.

Responsibilities:

• Shape and own the end-to-end AI integration strategy for the VA modernization program.

• Select, fine-tune, and deploy large language models (and other ML models) that power Veteran-facing web, mobile, and DevOps use cases.

• Architect and maintain containerized inference services and well-documented REST/GraphQL APIs for internal and external consumers.

• Embed AI tooling (code completion, test generation, data synthesis) into GitHub Actions and other CI/CD workflows, expressed entirely as infrastructure-as-code.

• Establish and enforce FedRAMP High, FISMA, privacy, and Responsible-AI guardrails; create model cards, risk assessments, and ATO artifacts.

• Instrument AI services for observability (latency, accuracy, cost) and publish dashboards to product owners via Datadog or similar tools.

• Lead and mentor cross-functional engineers on prompt engineering, evaluation techniques, and emerging AI policy.

• Host “AI office hours,” build shared prompt libraries, and accelerate adoption across multiple work-streams.

• Integrate with external VA systems (e.g., VistA, Oracle Health) and document data flows, security controls, and SLAs.

• Embed automated unit, integration, bias, performance, and accessibility tests into pipelines; drive continuous improvement of model and API performance.

• Participate in Agile ceremonies (sprint planning, retros, demos) and collaborate closely with designers, researchers, and product managers.

• Perform other relevant duties as qualified and trained to execute as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, plus at least five (5) years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Proven software engineering experience, including significant experience building or operating AI/ML solutions in production

• Strong hands-on expertise with Python for AI/ML (FastAPI, Flask, or Django) and proficiency in at least two additional language such as TypeScript/Node.js, Rust, Go, or Java

• Demonstrated experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions or similar), as well as managed ML platforms like AWS SageMaker, or Azure ML

• Proven ability to select, fine-tune, evaluate, and monitor large language models and other ML models, including prompt-engineering and retrieval-augmented generation patterns

• Skilled at designing and securing REST/GraphQL APIs using OAuth 2.0/OIDC, JWT, and encryption for data in transit and at rest

• Familiar with FedRAMP High, FISMA, Section 508/WCAG compliance, bias testing, and producing model cards and risk documentation for Authority-to-Operate (ATO) packages

• Comfortable instrumenting AI services with observability tooling such as Datadog, Prometheus, or OpenTelemetry to track latency, accuracy, cost, and drift

• Ability to manage relationships across multiple agencies and balance competing priorities.

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, and drive innovative solutions.

• Leadership & Influence: Strong ability to lead teams without direct authority, aligning diverse stakeholders toward a common goal.

• Collaboration & Relationship Management: Exceptional skills in building trust, negotiating priorities, and fostering partnerships across multiple teams and agencies.

• Communication & Storytelling: Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, compelling narratives for both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Empathy & User Advocacy: Deep commitment to human-centered design and ensuring solutions meet the real-world needs of customers

• Problem-Solving & Adaptability: Comfortable navigating ambiguity, rapidly changing environments, and government bureaucracy.

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

• Track record of leading cross-functional Agile teams, mentoring engineers, and communicating complex AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders

Nice to Have Skills and Experience:

• Experience with VA health IT ecosystems (VistA, Oracle Health, FHIR) or other federal healthcare platforms.

• Background in LLM safety techniques (prompt filtering, guardrails) and open-source AI contributions.

• Familiarity with mobile or edge AI frameworks (TensorFlow Lite, Core ML).

How We Support Our Team:

• Flex hours
• 401K with matching incentive
• Parental Leave
• Medical/dental/vision benefits
• Flex Spending Account
• Company provided short-term disability and life insurance
• Commuter benefits
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 11 Paid holidays

Our company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.