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About This Role
Overview:
Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) is seeking multiple Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Operations \& Technical Training Specialists (Mid \- Senior level Trainers) to be based in our Aiken, SC location on the Savannah River Site (SRS). These Trainer positions will support several of the key nuclear waste processing facilities under the SRS Liquid Waste Operations mission.
Apply online using a current resume under the careers section of www.savannahrivermissioncompletion.com.
The DWPF Operations \& Technical Training Specialists (Mid \- Senior level Trainers) researches, analyzes, designs, develops, implements and evaluates training curriculum and programs primarily for facility operations staff to obtain and maintain operational/technical qualification requirements as defined by the company and Department of Energy (DOE) and ensures employees are able to perform their job safely and proficiently. Has significant involvement and influence in the identification of training program needs. Provides cost\-effective, performance\-based training via classroom training, e\-learning, hands\-on and other methods found effective. At higher levels, acts in a lead capacity for subject, functional or facility areas. May act as a Subcontract Technical Representative.
Responsibilities:
Duties of a Mid\-level Operations/Technical Training Specialist:
- Using fundamental training knowledge, designs, develops and delivers training on basic to moderately complex training subject matter. This may include general, operational, and/or technical areas.
- Keeps abreast of changes to instructional design models and makes recommendations for improvement or advancement in methodologies.
- Presents classroom training and conducts on\-the\-job walk\-through training for basic up to moderately complex subject matter that may be routine to somewhat varied.
- Assists students in using interactive training tools.
- Supplies alternate and ancillary resources and references.
- Monitors and promotes trainee achievement of lesson objectives.
- Administers oral and written examinations, and formal evaluation of job performance measures.
- Constructs a logical outline of lesson content.
- Modifies lesson plans to incorporate content changes, addressing differing target audiences, using a variety of media, and providing varied learning experiences.
- Writes training manuals, lessons plans, student guides, and other training material.
- Revises training materials as changes occur to procedures, practices, policies, or any other information on which training is based.
- Assists/advises more junior instructors in developing their training materials and their training skills.
- Reviews test items and ensures content and predictive validity.
- Performs job, task, and needs analysis, design of training, and development of training for applicable discipline(s). Including e\-learning materials.
- Performs evaluation of training effectiveness by conducting end\-of\-course evaluations and compiling exam result data.
- Provides input for evaluation of other instructors.
- Performs varied training administration tasks which include coordinating training scheduling, attendance monitoring, duplication/production of training materials, budget preparation and tracking.
- Develops, implements and issues Operating Experience Program (OEP)/Lessons Learned training materials.
- Performs instructional review of training materials.
- Other duties as assigned.
Duties of a Senior\-level Operations/Technical Support Specialist:
- Using expertise in instructional design, delivery, and facility knowledge (or specialized knowledge as applicable), designs, develops and delivers training on numerous systems, functions or areas of specialization. This primarily includes operational and/or technical areas.
- Understands learning models and incorporates advances in technology or ways to improve the learning experience and retention of material.
- Presents classroom training and conducts on\-the\-job walk\-through training for moderate to the most complex subjects.
- Often the primary point of contact for specific training curriculum or initiatives.
- Assists students in using interactive training tools.
- Supplies alternate and ancillary resources and references.
- Monitors and promotes trainee achievement of lesson objectives.
- Administers oral and written examinations, and formal evaluation of job performance measures.
- Constructs a logical outline of lesson content.
- Modifies lesson plans to incorporate content changes, addressing differing target audiences, using a variety of media, and providing varied learning experiences.
- Writes and/or revises training manuals, lesson plans, student guides, and other training material.
- Revises training materials as changes occur to procedures, practices, policies, or any other information on which training is based.
- Assists/advises less experienced instructors in developing their training materials and their instructional skills.
- Reviews test items and ensures content and predictive validity.
- Performs job, task, and needs analysis, design of training, and development of training for applicable discipline(s).
- Performs evaluation of training effectiveness by conducting end\-of\-course evaluations and compiling exam result data.
- Performs evaluation of other instructors.
- Performs or guides varied training administrative tasks including coordinating training schedules, attendance monitoring, duplication/production of training materials, budget preparation and tracking.
- Develops, implements and issues Operating Experience Program (OEP)/Lessons Learned training materials.
- Performs instructional review of training materials.
- Leads departmental initiatives or projects as assigned.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
High School Diploma/GED and relevant training/teaching experience, experience in a skilled trade (e.g. operator, mechanic, technician), or professional role in a high hazard, nuclear or highly regulated industrial plant/facility environment\*\* as defined in the job description.
Additional Information:
- \*\* A combination of experience outlined above for those with Associates or High School Diploma will satisfy the requirement for entry.
- This position falls under DOE Order 426\.2 and as such must meet the conditions of the order. This may require additional specific training and/or knowledge dependent on position’s duties and responsibilities.
- Candidate(s) selected to receive an offer will be offered the position level commensurate with their experience and qualifications.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Navy Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Instructors
- Naval Nuclear Power Training Command (NNPTC)
- Bachelor's or Associate's degree
- Bachelor’s degree in Education, Training or Engineering.
- Completed courses in education or training with emphasis on instructional analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation if not included in secondary education curriculum.
- In\-depth knowledge of technical training techniques and concepts in a Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), or commercial nuclear environment (NRC).
- Familiarity with applicable federal laws and DOE orders.
- Working knowledge of industrial processes (e.g. wastewater treatment, mechanical, electrical), hazardous materials management, nuclear facilities operations, and transportation regulations.
- Experience with the delivery/management of training through:
+ State\-of\-the\-art e\-learning technologies and/or multimedia graphics design using commercial off\-the\-shelf software;
+ Learning Management Systems (LMS);
+ Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS).
- Proficient in eLearning Authoring software (preferably Adobe Captivate or Lectora)
- Proficiency in media programs contained in Adobe Creative Suite (ex. Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, etc)
- Proficiency in reading and interpreting Electrical and Mechanical prints and schematics, Work Control Processes, and Construction processes.
- Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
About:
Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), a prime contractor for the US Department of Energy, is responsible for managing the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site’s Liquid Waste operations contract. Located in Aiken, South Carolina, SRMC is a limited liability company formed by nuclear operations and environmental remediation global leaders BWXT, Amentum, and Fluor. The SRMC Team is responsible for the closure of waste tanks, the operation of the Savannah River Site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility, tank farm operations and associated production and disposal facilities. www.savannahrivermissioncompletion.com
Benefits:
Savannah River Mission Completion offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package with flexibility to meet your needs.
Highlights of our plans include:
- 401k Retirement Savings Plan – 5% immediate company contribution, additional matching for employee contributions
- Health Insurance \& Prescription Drug Program
- Health Savings Account
- Telehealth with BlueCare on Demand
- Dental Coverage
- Vision Coverage
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Includes 160 hours annual paid time off (accrued monthly), plus 11 paid holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- Life and Accident Coverage
- Disability Coverage
- Employee Assistance Program
- Tuition Reimbursement
Minimum Pay: USD $69,100\.00/Yr. Maximum Pay: USD $153,200\.00/Yr. Pay Disclaimer: Exceptions to this range/rate may be applied on a case\-by\-case basis taking into account aspects such as education, experience, and skill need of the organization. EEO Statement:
Savannah River Mission Completion is committed to equal employment opportunity to employees and qualified applicants regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, status as a parent, sexual orientation, or genetics. Our equal employment opportunity policies encompass all aspects of the employment relationship, including application and hiring, promotion and transfer, selection for training opportunities, wage and salary administration.
Salary Context
This $69K-$153K range is above the median for AI/ML Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $100K across 15465 roles with salary data).
View full AI/ML Engineer salary data →Role Details
About This Role
AI/ML Engineers build and deploy machine learning models in production. They work across the full ML lifecycle: data pipelines, model training, evaluation, and serving infrastructure. The role has evolved significantly over the past two years. Where ML Engineers once spent most of their time on model architecture, the job now tilts heavily toward inference optimization, cost management, and integrating LLM capabilities into existing systems. Companies want engineers who can ship production systems, and the experimenter-only role is fading fast.
Day-to-day, you're writing training pipelines, debugging data quality issues, setting up evaluation frameworks, and figuring out why your model performs differently in staging than it did on your dev set. The best ML engineers are obsessive about reproducibility and measurement. They instrument everything. They know that a model is only as good as the data feeding it and the infrastructure serving it.
Across the 26,159 AI roles we're tracking, AI/ML Engineer positions make up 91% of the market. At Savannah River Mission Completion, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week might include: debugging a data pipeline that's silently dropping 3% of training examples, running A/B tests on a new model version, writing documentation for a feature flag system that lets you roll back model deployments, and reviewing a junior engineer's PR for a new evaluation metric. Meetings tend to be cross-functional since ML touches product, engineering, and data teams.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
Skills Required
Python and PyTorch dominate the requirements. Most roles expect experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and familiarity with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or JAX. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) has become a top-3 skill requirement as companies integrate LLMs into their products. Docker and Kubernetes show up in about a third of postings, reflecting the production focus of the role.
Beyond the core stack, employers increasingly want experience with experiment tracking tools (MLflow, Weights & Biases), feature stores, and vector databases. Fine-tuning experience is valuable but less common than you'd think from reading Twitter. Most production LLM work is RAG and prompt engineering, not fine-tuning. If you have both, you're in a strong position.
Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI/ML Engineer roles pay a median of $166,983 based on 13,781 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($111K) sits 33% below the category median. Disclosed range: $69K to $153K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $184,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $244,000. The 90th percentile reaches $309,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Engineering Manager ($293,500) and AI Architect ($292,900). By seniority level: Entry: $76,880; Mid: $131,300; Senior: $227,400; Director: $244,288; VP: $234,620.
Savannah River Mission Completion AI Hiring
Savannah River Mission Completion has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer. Based in Aiken, SC, US. Compensation range: $153K - $153K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 7% (1,863 positions) offer remote work, while 24,200 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: Los Angeles (1,695 roles, $178,000 median); New York (1,670 roles, $200,000 median); San Francisco (1,059 roles, $244,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI/ML Engineer roles include Data Scientist, Software Engineer, Research Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward ML Architect, AI Engineering Manager, Principal ML Engineer.
The fastest path into ML engineering is through software engineering with a self-directed ML education. A CS degree helps, but production engineering skills matter more than academic credentials. Build something that works, deploy it, and measure it. That portfolio project is worth more than a Coursera certificate. For career growth, the fork comes around the senior level: go deep on technical complexity (staff/principal track) or move into managing ML teams.
What to Expect in Interviews
Expect system design questions around ML pipelines: how you'd build a training pipeline for a specific use case, handle data drift, or design A/B testing infrastructure for model deployments. Coding rounds typically involve Python, with emphasis on data manipulation (pandas, numpy) and algorithm implementation. Take-home assignments often ask you to build an end-to-end ML pipeline from raw data to deployed model.
When evaluating opportunities: Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 26,159 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 2,416 entry-level, 16,247 mid-level, 5,153 senior, and 2,343 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 7% of the market (1,863 positions). The remaining 24,200 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $184,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $244,000. The 90th percentile reaches $309,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Engineering Manager ($293,500 median, 28 roles); AI Architect ($292,900 median, 108 roles); AI Safety ($274,200 median, 19 roles).
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 26,159 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (23,752), AI Software Engineer (598), AI Product Manager (594). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (2,416) are outnumbered by mid-level (16,247) and senior (5,153) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 2,343 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 7% of all AI roles (1,863 positions), with 24,200 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $184,000. Top-quartile roles start at $244,000, and the 90th percentile reaches $309,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Engineering Manager roles lead at $293,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $122,200. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Rag (16,749 postings), Aws (8,932 postings), Rust (7,660 postings), Python (3,815 postings), Azure (2,678 postings), Gcp (2,247 postings), Prompt Engineering (1,469 postings), Openai (1,269 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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