Lead Software Engineer
spark tekOwings Mills (MD)
About the role
Job Description:
Job Requirements Role Overview We are seeking an experienced LLM Engineer with 7 years of software engineering experience, including 4 years dedicated to AI/ML. You will design, develop, fine-tune, and deploy state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI applications directly within our on-premises, air-gapped enterprise infrastructure. In this role, you will lead the end-to-end lifecycle of local GenAI solutions—from self-hosted model serving and custom prompt engineering to fine-tuning open-weight models (e.g., Llama 3, Mistral, Qwen) while ensuring strict enterprise data privacy, security, and low latency. Required Qualifications & Technical Skills
Experience:
7 years of overall software development experience, with 4 years of hands-on experience in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and AI.Python Mastery: Expert-level Python skills and deep familiarity with core AI ecosystems: PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face (transformers, peft, datasets, accelerate), spa
Cy, and Scikit-Learn.
Self-Hosted / Open-Source LLMs: Hands-on experience working with open-weight foundation models (Llama, Mistral, Gemma, DeepSeek, Qwen) and local serving engines (vLLM, Ollama, TensorRT-LLM, Triton).On-Prem Infrastructure & Orchestration: Solid understanding of Linux, Docker/Kubernetes (OpenShift, Rancher, microK8s), local GPU orchestration, and CUDA driver configurations.
Deployments: Proven track record of deploying at least one end-to-end GenAI application in a production environment. Education & Core Competencies: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related quantitative field. Strong problem-solving, analytical, and cross-functional communication skills. Work Experience 7-10 Years
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