Senior AI Engineer | GenAI & LLMs | Federal Government
Summary
Contract Senior AI Engineer (12 months, extendable to 24) placed by Bitgrid with a Federal Government agency, building production GenAI/LLM apps — prompt engineering, RAG, embeddings, AI agents — plus MLOps/LLMOps in Python. Onsite in Canberra or Hobart for 6 weeks, then hybrid; $130–150/hour; must be an Australian citizen able to obtain a Baseline clearance.
Salary: $130 – $150 per hour
Senior AI Engineer | Federal Government | Canberra or Hobart
12-month contract plus extensions, up to 24 months total
GenAI, LLMs, RAG and agents in production at national scale
Hybrid after initial onsite period
Bitgrid Pty Ltd is seeking a Senior AI Engineer for a major Federal Government agency at the frontline of national service delivery. You’ll design, build and run AI solutions that serve millions of Australians.
The role
Initial 12-month contract, with extensions up to 24 months in total
Start date: December 2026
EL1-equivalent level
$130–$150 per hour (Pty Ltd/ABN contract)
Onsite for the first 6 weeks, then hybrid working
You must live within reasonable travel distance of the Canberra or Hobart office
What you’ll do
Design, develop and deploy AI and machine learning solutions aligned to business outcomes
Build Generative AI and LLM-based applications, including prompt engineering, RAG and embeddings
Design and maintain custom AI agents: tool definitions, control flow, state and memory, retries, escalation and stopping conditions
Take solutions from prototype and proof of concept through to production
Implement MLOps/LLMOps practices: version control, testing, CI/CD, automated deployment and monitoring
Evaluate models for accuracy, robustness, bias, hallucination and safety
Monitor performance, drift, latency, cost and usage, and optimise accordingly
Apply strong controls for AI security, privacy and responsible AI, and contribute to AI governance and assurance
What you’ll bring
3+ years in AI/ML engineering with a track record of production delivery
Strong Python and software engineering skills (SFIA Level 3 programming or above)
Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG, embeddings, agents and GenAI application patterns
Experience integrating AI with enterprise systems and data platforms
Experience with SAS, Teradata, Cloudera Machine Learning (CML) and/or Red Hat OpenShift is highly regarded
An advanced degree in computer science, statistics, mathematics or a related field is desirable
Security clearance
Australian citizens only. An existing clearance is not required, but you must be able to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance. This generally requires Australian citizenship. If you already hold a clearance, please mention it.
How to apply
Click Apply and attach your CV. In a short cover note, please include:
Your current location and availability for a December start
Your expected hourly rate
Whether you hold a current clearance
Whether you’ve been submitted for a similar Federal Government Senior AI Engineer role in the last two weeks. The client only accepts each candidate from one supplier.
Shortlisted candidates will be contacted promptly. Applications close Monday 26 October 2026 so we can prepare submissions in time.