Principal AL/ML Data Scientist - AI, Vector Search & Agentic AI Platforms at Red Arch Solutions
Reston, VA
$270,000–$325,000from the description
Aug 16, 2026
Reston, VA
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This senior AI/ML Data Engineer role at Red Arch Solutions centers on architecting and building enterprise-scale data platforms that underpin vector search, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, large language model applications, and Agentic AI systems — likely in support of a national security or intelligence mission. The position carries significant technical leadership responsibilities, including cross-functional coordination, executive communication, and mentoring engineers. It suits a deeply experienced data/AI platform engineer who holds an active TS/SCI with polygraph.
Senior level · 20+ years · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Quick apply — this platform usually takes a CV and a few fields.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 $142,568 (middle half $111,775–$173,013). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 18, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
An active TS/SCI with polygraph is an absolute hard gate — the posting states it is 'mandatory'.
The posting requires 20+ years of experience across software engineering, data engineering, distributed systems, cloud architecture, or AI/ML platform development — an unusually high bar that is nonetheless stated as a minimum.
A Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field is listed as required, but the posting explicitly states 'equivalent experience may be considered,' so the degree requirement is treated as None.
Cloud platform experience is stated as 'Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud' — these are interchangeable alternatives for the same requirement; Azure is listed as primary with AWS and GCP as alternatives.
No specific work location or CBSA is mentioned in the posting; the metro field is left blank. Given the national security/intelligence context and polygraph requirement, the role is likely in the Washington DC area, but this is not stated and has not been assumed.
SOC classification is Medium confidence: the role spans data architecture/pipeline engineering (15-1243) and broader AI platform software development (15-1252); the primary framing around data platform architecture and pipelines edges it toward 15-1243.
Salary range of $270K–$325K is explicitly stated as a guideline, not a guarantee.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): infrastructure automation, distributed data processing frameworks.
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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