Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Engineer 2 at Captivation Software
Annapolis Junction, MD
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Jul 15, 2026
Annapolis Junction, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A mid-level engineering role focused on building and productizing machine learning models — from selecting datasets and running algorithms through to integrating solutions into production systems. The work spans the full ML lifecycle: designing and retraining models, converting data science prototypes into scalable solutions, and overseeing verification and validation. Requires an active TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph and at least five years of ML deployment experience.
Senior level · 5+ years · National · Master's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Mid, but the requirements read as Senior.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $122,874 (middle half $87,544–$162,374).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The posting is titled 'mid level' but requires 5+ years of ML deployment experience plus a Master's or Ph.D. degree — requirements that align with a Senior-level role on a normal career ladder.
A TS/SCI clearance with a favorable polygraph is a hard gate; all candidates must be U.S. citizens.
The degree requirement is a Master's or Ph.D. in a relevant field; however, a Bachelor's degree plus 5 additional years of ML experience may be substituted, so the effective hard floor is a Master's (or equivalent via the substitution path). Degree requirement is set to Master's as the stated minimum formal degree.
No compensation information is provided.
Direct hires only — third-party staffing/recruiting firms will not be considered.
The role blends data science (ML modeling, statistical analysis) with software engineering (productizing models, system integration), making the SOC classification genuinely ambiguous between Data Scientists (15-2051) and Software Developers (15-1252); Data Scientists is chosen as primary given the emphasis on algorithm design, model training, and evaluation.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): software engineering.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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