AI Software Engineer at ICON - Remote US Role — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Remote-First with a Catch: This role is officially remote, which is a strong positive for location-flexible professionals. However, there are two critical constraints every nomad must weigh carefully before applying.
- Security Clearance Requirement: You must be able to obtain and maintain a US security clearance. This effectively restricts the role to US citizens (or eligible nationals), and may require you to spend extended periods stateside for background investigation processing. Extended travel abroad during an active clearance investigation can complicate or delay approval.
- Periodic Travel to Austin, TX: The role requires occasional visits to ICON HQ in Austin. Budget for domestic US flights and short stays — Austin is a well-connected hub, so this is manageable if you base yourself domestically.
Timezone Considerations: No specific timezone is stated, but given the defense context and collaboration requirements with Austin HQ (CT), staying within US timezones (ET–PT) is strongly advisable. This limits geo-arbitrage opportunities significantly.
Salary vs. Nomad Cost of Living: At $126,400–$180,000/year, purchasing power is strong in nomad-friendly US cities. However, given clearance requirements, true international nomadism is not practical for this role. If you hold the right credentials and want to maximize savings, low-cost US metros like Tucson or Raleigh are worth considering over high-cost hubs.
ICON is looking for a pragmatic builder who has made the leap from traditional software engineering into the emerging world of agentic AI development. As an AI Software Engineer at ICON, you will be responsible for designing and shipping AI-powered tools, workflows, and autonomous agents that accelerate ICON's construction technology platform. This role reports to the Sr. Director, Defense Technology Programs and is available for remote work with periodic travel to ICON HQ in Austin, TX as projects require.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design and build agentic AI systems that automate complex, multi-step workflows across ICON's software platform
- Develop LLM-powered features and products using state-of-the-art foundation models and APIs (e.g. Anthropic, OpenAI)
- Architect and implement multi-agent pipelines, tool-use systems, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations
- Build robust RAG systems including document ingestion, chunking strategies, embedding pipelines, and vector retrieval
- Collaborate with software and domain teams to identify high-leverage AI automation opportunities and translate them into shipped products
- Own the full development lifecycle of AI features: prototyping, evaluation, deployment, and iteration
- Serve as a technical resource and informal mentor on agentic AI best practices across the engineering organization
- Stay at the leading edge of the agentic AI landscape and bring emerging techniques into production
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- 6+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong foundation in backend or full-stack development
- Demonstrated experience building and shipping production-grade products using LLMs and agentic frameworks
- Proficiency in TypeScript and/or Python
- Deep understanding of prompt engineering, context management, and LLM reasoning patterns
- Experience with tool-use, function calling, and agent orchestration (e.g. LangChain, LlamaIndex, Claude Code, or custom implementations)
- Ability to design and execute structured evals to measure and improve AI system performance
- Strong communication skills and comfort working cross-functionally with both technical teams and non-technical stakeholders
- Must be able to obtain and maintain security clearance.
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
- Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) server development and integration
- Familiarity with vector databases (e.g. pgvector, Pinecone, Weaviate)
- Experience with fine-tuning, RLHF, or model evaluation pipelines
- Background in ML fundamentals: embeddings, transformers, attention mechanisms
- Exposure to structured output generation and LLM-based data extraction
- Experience working with code generation agents (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor, Devin-style systems)
- Familiarity with AWS and serverless infrastructure for AI workloads
- Experience working in or alongside government, defense, or regulated environments
- Interest or background in the AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) industry
Rate Range: $126,400 – $180,000
ICON is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an innovative, inclusive, diverse and discrimination-free work environment. Employment with ICON is based on merit, competence, and qualifications. It is our policy to administer all personnel actions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting employees, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. Consistent with the obligations of these laws, ICON will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Furthermore, as a federal government contractor, the Company maintains an affirmative action program which furthers its commitment and complies with recordkeeping and reporting requirements under certain federal civil rights laws and regulations, including Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (as amended).
Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit candidates through this application. ICON does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency submissions for candidates and will not pay fees to any third-party agency without a prior agreement with ICON.
As part of our compliance with these obligations, the Company invites you to voluntarily self-identify as set forth below. Provision of such information is entirely voluntary and a decision to provide or not provide such information will not have any effect on your employment or subject you to any adverse treatment. Any and all information provided will be considered confidential, will be kept separate from your application and/or personnel file, and will only be used in accordance with applicable laws, orders and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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