
Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Team Lead (Active Secret Clearance)
Required skills
- Active Secret Clearance
- US citizenship
- data science
- machine learning
- production-level technical solutions
- complex technical topics
- internal engineering teams
- programming languages
- algorithms
- data structures
Nice to have
- K8s
- horizontally scaled architectures
- NATS
- Kafka
- RabbitMQ
- AI agents
Role summary
Striveworks is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer and Team Lead to design, build, and deliver AI systems that operate reliably in real-world government environments. This role involves technical leadership, customer interaction, and hands-on development, focusing on sustaining AI model performance and trust. The ideal candidate has an advanced degree, 10+ years of experience, proficiency in Python and systems programming, and expertise in ML model lifecycle management and cloud environments. A Secret clearance and US citizenship are required. The position offers a hybrid work model in Austin, TX, with travel up to 25%.
“In 36 months, agentic AI systems will be an operating reality across major institutions. We intend to be central to it.” — Dr. Jim Rebesco, Cofounder and CEO, Striveworks
The government’s demand for AI is growing far faster than the systems required to support it. Fewer than 15% of federal AI programs have reached sustained production, despite billions of dollars invested. The models perform in testing, but they degrade in the real world. And when performance drops, trust goes with it.
Striveworks was built to solve that problem.
What you’ll build
Since 2018, we have delivered the most trusted AI systems operating in real-world use cases—providing a layer of assurance underneath hundreds of deployed models that monitors performance, manages drift, and sustains systems long after they leave the lab.
As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, you will be both a core contributor and a customer-facing technical leader. You’ll initiate the design, build, and delivery of systems—from data shaping and analytics to end-user delivery. Customers and engineers will bring you the hard problems. You’ll turn them into working systems and see them through to execution. The work will take you into the field, where direct customer input will shape what we build next.
What it’s like here
We lead with trust, treat each other with respect, and use candor consistently, kindly, and constructively. We care deeply about our work, and we find genuine satisfaction in doing it well. Above all, we take ownership—because we feel the weight of collective results personally. We are looking for people who share these values and are eager to put them into practice.
What we’re looking for
The following isn’t required, but we’d love to see it:
You will be remote or hybrid out of our Austin, Texas, office. This role requires travel up to 25% of the time.
Compensation
The anticipated base pay range for this position is $230,000–$280,000/year. Striveworks’ total compensation package includes a competitive base salary, equity grants, and cash bonuses.
Benefits include:
Ready to build systems that work for a mission that matters? Let’s talk.
Striveworks is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, belief, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity or expression), national origin, social or ethnic origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. Striveworks will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.
If you require assistance or a reasonable accommodation in the application process, please contact People Operations at hr@striveworks.us.
In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
Striveworks is a participating employer in the E-Verify program.
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