AI/LLM Engineer, DEFCON AI

• We’re looking for an adaptable AI/LLM engineer who thrives in ambiguity—someone comfortable jumping into new problem spaces, rapidly learning what’s needed, and shipping pragmatic solutions
• U.S. citizenship
• Solid software fundamentals and strong Python skills; you write clear, maintainable code and tests
• 2–5 years of hands-on experience building and shipping ML/AI or NLP-driven features (titles less important than impact)
• A generalist mindset: you can learn unfamiliar libraries, models, or stacks quickly and pick the right level of sophistication for the problem
• Practical evaluation chops: you design metrics, create test sets, and know when something is “good enough” to pilot vs. needs more rigor
• Data instincts: you’re comfortable sourcing, cleaning, labeling, and shaping both structured and unstructured data
• Bias for action and ownership in fast-moving, resource-constrained settings
• Thoughtful approach to safety, privacy, and policy constraints

Desirable

• You’ll turn fuzzy ideas into working prototypes and then into reliable, scalable systems that create real value
• Tackle open-ended AI problems: clarify goals, propose approach options, and choose sensible trade-offs
• Stand up end-to-end workflows—from data wrangling and evaluation through deployment and monitoring
• Build quick experiments and MVPs to de-risk unknowns, then harden them for production
• Create lightweight tooling that helps others explore, test, and iterate on AI features
• Work across teams (security, infra, product, domain experts) to ship responsibly in real-world environments, including sensitive contexts
• Document decisions, assumptions, and risks so others can build on your work
• Start small, learn fast: prototype, measure, iterate
• Prefer simple, observable systems over “state-of-the-art” complexity
• Write things down; leave a trail others can follow