AI Engineer

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As a 100% Employee-Owned company, Robert E. Mason & Associates, Inc. believes our Associates are the foundation of both our customers' and our success. Under the Robert E. Mason & Associates, Inc. umbrella there are two divisions: R.E. Mason and Apperture Solutions.

R.E. Mason is an Emerson Impact Partner covering North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Emerson is the global leader of process systems and solutions. R.E. Mason provides industry-leading process equipment and service for process control, automation, safety, and reliability. The industries served include Chemical, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences, Power & Utilities, Food & Beverage, and Pulp & Paper.

Apperture Solutions is a technology independent, professional consulting and implementation services firm. Apperture Solutions offers Data Enablement, Production Optimization, Operations Management, and Other Value-Added Services. Apperture Solutions partners with other providers to offer our customers the technologies and solutions that fit their needs.

What Apperture Offers Associates: Apperture is a 100% employee-owned company that offers a comprehensive, industry-leading benefits package to all eligible Associates

• Participation in the Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) Retirement plan, including a Safe Harbor contribution
• Medical / Dental / Vision Insurance
• Employer paid Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Generous paid leave options that include vacation time, sick leave, personal leave, R.E. Mason Way Half Day, paid Jury Duty, and paid Bereavement Leave
• Paid company holidays
• Retirement and Financial Wellness program
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Alternative/Hybrid Work Schedule

General Description

The Lean AI Engineer will help design, build, and deploy lightweight, domain-specific AI tools—including embedded LLM agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, and workflow co-pilots. This role focuses on solving practical engineering and operations problems using narrowly scoped GenAI and ML solutions that can run on local or hybrid infrastructure in DOE-compliant environments.

Specific Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy lightweight GenAI agents (e.g., SOP Assistants, Throughput Co-Pilots) using open-source or cloud-hosted models
• Design retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines using tools like LangChain, Semantic Kernel, or custom logic
• Create and manage vector stores for knowledge retrieval using FAISS, Qdrant, or Azure AI Search
• Work with stakeholders to extract, clean, and embed SOPs, logs, and operational knowledge into AI-ready formats
• Integrate AI systems with internal tools (SharePoint, Power BI, custom dashboards)
• Contribute to fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and orchestration of model pipelines
• Package models and pipelines into secure, containerized apps suitable for offline or GovCloud deploy
• Document systems, workflows, and compliance touchpoints
• Collaborate with OT, IT, cybersecurity, and business operations teams to meet deployment constraints
• Support internal customers by developing solutions to meet their data needs
• Enhance and support CI/CD automation needs of the business
• Previous experience as an active SCRUM team member

Required Competencies

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field
• 3+ years experience in AI/ML, NLP, or data science roles; academic experience is acceptable
• Experience building or integrating with LLMs (e.g., OpenAI, HuggingFace, LLaMA, etc.); understanding of vector databases and embedding models
• Knowledge of cloud deployment models (Azure, AWS, GovCloud)
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker) and edge/on-prem compute
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently and in a team environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Highly communicative, detail-oriented, and career-minded with the ability to multitask
• Customer service-oriented with a positive attitude and willingness to tackle any task
• Resourcefulness and troubleshooting aptitude
• Attention to detail; ability to follow detailed instructions
• Time management and teamwork
• This is a hybrid role requiring three days per week in the office and two days working from home

Required Education and Experience

• BSc/BA in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• Experience with semantic search, knowledge graphs, or enterprise RAG
• Familiarity with DOE or highly regulated environments
• Exposure to SCADA, DCS, or control systems as AI input sources
• Contributions to open-source AI tooling or fine-tuning pipelines

Preferred Experience/Competencies

• Experience with industrial data sources and IoT data (SCADA/DCS, PLC, or process control)
• Knowledge of data warehousing concepts and technologies (e.g., Redshift, Snowflake)
• Understanding of machine learning concepts and model deployment
• Certifications in relevant technologies and platforms

Physical Requirements

• Standing, walking, sitting, kneeling, reaching, climbing, pushing and pulling
• Lifting up to 50 pounds
• Use of computer and telephone

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Information Technology
• Industries: Software Development and Engineering Services

Note: This description may include the job posting dates and related postings for context.

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