Applied AI Engineer

Colorado (onsite) role with a salary range of $74,800 to $130,900 per year. Parsons is building applied AI products that convert complex real-world data into actionable insights, and this Applied AI Engineer position focuses on taking models from prototype to production across computer vision, robotics-adjacent workflows, geospatial systems, and software engineering.

What you’ll be building

You will design and develop AI-enabled applications that handle imagery, video, drone data, geospatial inputs, and 3D environments. The work includes creating multimodal AI workflows and deploying scalable services that support real-world use cases such as drone-based inspection, mapping, perception, and emerging autonomous capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Design and build AI-enabled applications from prototype through production.
• Develop computer vision and multimodal AI workflows for imagery, video, drone data, geospatial data, and 3D environments.
• Apply modern techniques including segmentation, feature extraction, self-supervised learning, foundation models, LLMs, and VLMs.
• Develop AI workflows supporting drone-based inspection, mapping, perception, and emerging autonomous capabilities.
• Develop scalable Python services and APIs using frameworks such as FastAPI.
• Build data pipelines integrating AI inference, SQL databases, APIs, sensor-derived data, and external data sources.
• Optimize and deploy AI models using PyTorch, ONNX, and related inference tooling.
• Collaborate with engineers and domain experts to turn loosely defined problems into usable software.
• Contribute to software architecture, testing, source control, automated deployment, and production reliability.
• Rapidly evaluate emerging AI techniques and determine practical value for the product.

Core requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Robotics, Data Science, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent practical work experience).
• 2+ years of experience building production-grade software using Python.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including modular design, testing, debugging, and maintainable code.
• Experience developing and integrating machine-learning or computer-vision models into real applications.
• Experience with PyTorch (or a comparable ML framework).
• Experience building APIs and backend services (FastAPI or similar Python frameworks preferred).
• Experience with SQL databases and structured data.
• Familiarity with modern AI techniques including computer vision foundation models, embeddings, LLMs, or VLMs.
• Proficiency with Git/source control, Linux development environments, and CI/CD workflows.
• Ability to independently prototype, evaluate, and productionize new technical approaches.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Paid time off and paid flexible holidays
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• 401(k)
• Life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible work schedules
• Holidays
• Weekly Meditation Mondays and Wellness Wednesdays
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans through large, national carriers, with the choice of regional PPO, HDHP, or HMO networks

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with TypeScript and React or similar modern web-development frameworks.
• Experience building full-stack AI applications.
• Experience with geospatial or 3D data, including one or more: LiDAR and point clouds, photogrammetry, GIS/geospatial imagery, digital twins or facility models, camera geometry and 3D reconstruction.
• Experience working with drone platforms, aerial imagery, mapping, or autonomous sensing systems.
• Experience with ONNX, GPU inference, model optimization, or edge deployment.
• Experience developing applications using LLMs or VLMs or SSL methods (SAM, DINO v3).
• Experience with segmentation, feature matching, embedding models, or self-supervised computer vision.
• Familiarity with Docker, cloud deployment, automated testing, and modern DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with ROS/ROS 2, localization, sensor systems, or robotics software.
• Experience working with drone, mobile, camera, or other real-world sensor datasets.

Technologies: Python, FastAPI, PyTorch, ONNX, SQL, Git, Linux, CI/CD, LLMs, VLMs, self-supervised learning, segmentation, feature extraction, foundation models.

Security clearance: None