AI Application Engineer

Summary

BigBear.ai is a provider of AI-powered decision intelligence solutions for national security, supply chain management, and digital identity. The AI Application Engineer will develop and maintain full-stack AI applications and a config-driven decision-support platform, building backend APIs, databases, React interfaces, and LLM/RAG capabilities. The role also involves integrating external systems, testing, CI/CD, production support, and improving application reliability and security.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain full-stack features : FastAPI services, PostgreSQL schema/migrations, and React/TypeScript UI in an Nx monorepo
• Design, implement, and maintain LLM/RAG pipelines using LangChain (Python) or LangChain4J (Java)—retrieval, embeddings, tool/agent orchestration, and prompt workflows
• Integrate LLM providers (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, Ask Sage), document ingestion, semantic search, and chat/report features
• Work with vector stores (e.g. PostgreSQL (pgvector), Weaviate), Redis, and Keycloak auth; implement role-based access and secure API patterns
• Connect to external systems via MCP, REST/PostgREST, and related data adapters
• Write and maintain tests (pytest, Vitest) and participate in CI/CD (Docker, GitHub Actions)
• Debug production issues, improve reliability/performance, and keep dependencies and security patches current
• Use AI-assisted development tools (e.g. Cursor) effectively: prompt well, review generated code critically, and ship production-quality changes at a steady pace

Skills

• • 3+ years full-stack development with strong Python and React/TypeScript
• • Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance
• • Hands-on LLM/RAG experience building production features with LangChain or LangChain4J (chains, retrievers, agents/tools, embeddings, vector stores)
• • Experience building and consuming REST APIs (FastAPI or similar)
• • Solid PostgreSQL skills: schema design, SQL, migrations (pgvector a plus)
• • Comfortable with Docker , local dev environments, and basic deployment workflows
• • Strong debugging, testing, and code review habits
• • Ability to work independently across backend, frontend, database, and AI layers
• • Proven comfort using AI coding assistants as a daily workflow—not as a substitute for understanding the codebase
• • Dash/Plotly, Flask, or legacy-to-modern UI migration experience
• • Keycloak/OAuth, Redis sessions
• • Nx monorepos, TanStack Router/Query, Tailwind CSS
• • MCP protocol, Ask Sage, or similar enterprise LLM platforms
• • Government/defense or regulated-environment experience

Qualifications

Must Haves

• • 3+ years full-stack development with strong Python and React/TypeScript
• • Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance
• • Hands-on LLM/RAG experience building production features with LangChain or LangChain4J (chains, retrievers, agents/tools, embeddings, vector stores)
• • Experience building and consuming REST APIs (FastAPI or similar)
• • Solid PostgreSQL skills: schema design, SQL, migrations (pgvector a plus)
• • Comfortable with Docker , local dev environments, and basic deployment workflows
• • Strong debugging, testing, and code review habits
• • Ability to work independently across backend, frontend, database, and AI layers
• • Proven comfort using AI coding assistants as a daily workflow—not as a substitute for understanding the codebase

Nice to Haves

• • Dash/Plotly, Flask, or legacy-to-modern UI migration experience
• • Keycloak/OAuth, Redis sessions
• • Nx monorepos, TanStack Router/Query, Tailwind CSS
• • MCP protocol, Ask Sage, or similar enterprise LLM platforms
• • Government/defense or regulated-environment experience