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About This Role
This position is open to All Applicants.This is a multiple class position.
This position will be filled based on the qualifications of the successful candidate. The Mission of the Division of the Alaska Pioneer Homes Is: "Providing elder Alaskans a home and community, celebrating life through its final breath."
This position is a member of the Juneau Pioneer Home and plays a vital role in providing person\-centered support in a safe environment for up to forty\-nine (49\) elders Residents. This multi\-class position will be filled, based on the qualifications of the successful candidate, and may be used to fill multiple positions. Our Division Values Are:* Positive Attitude: "We enjoy what we do." Optimism inspires open\-mindedness and creativity.
- Love: "We love who we serve." Out of love and respect for our residents, we put their needs before staff convenience.
- Accountability: "We do what we say." We are accountable to our residents, to their families and to each other. Accepting responsibility is essential as we plan and deliver care.
- Trust: "We say what we mean." Open and honest communication is crucial to earning the trust of our residents, their families, and our coworkers.
- Excellence: "We provide excellent care, every resident, every day every time." Our own excellence inspires excellence in others, including residents, families, and our coworkers.
What You Will Be Doing: Provide high quality personal care to assisted living home residents in a warm, supportive, and caring manner. Following the resident's Assisted Living Plan, this position assists residents with lifting, turning, moving, positioning, and with transporting into and out of bed, wheelchairs, bathtubs, lifts, and using walkers and canes, etc. This position is also part of a team providing programs that promote physical well\-being and relationships by involving residents in activities where they engage in meaningful person to person social interchange with other residents, family, friends, and staff. The Benefits to Joining Our Team: Joining our team will provide opportunities to make a positive impact on the quality of life for our Alaskan elders by providing excellent person\-centered loving care and services. This position is surrounded by elder residents with many years of life experiences and wisdom who are in varying stages of their life journey. The Working Environment You Can Expect: This job is located at the Juneau Pioneer Home, an assisted living home at 4675 Glacier Hwy. Juneau, Alaska. The home is nestled near Twin Lakes with breathtaking views of nearby mountains, the Gastineau Channel, and wildlife such as brown bears, eagles, ravens, blue herons, kingfishers, porcupines, deer, and squirrels. Who We Are Looking For: Position\-specific knowledge, skills and abilities that are desired or contribute to the success in this position:* Teamwork: Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.
- Flexibility: Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior or work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles; effectively deals with ambiguity.
- Physical Strength and Agility: Ability to bend, lift, climb, stand, and walk for long periods of time; ability to perform moderately heavy laboring work.
- Listening: Receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues such as body language in ways that are appropriate to listeners and situations.
- Interpersonal Skills: Treats others with courtesy, sensitivity, and respect. Considers and responds appropriately to the needs and feelings of different people in different situations.
Other Job Information:* This position is in support of the Pioneer Home, which is a 24\-hour facility.
- This Pioneer Home is an Eden Alternative facility, where the environment includes contact with plants, flowers, and pets including cats, dogs, fish and birds.
- Employees of the Pioneer Home receive continual or regular screening for tuberculosis, criminal history and for COVID\-19 as required by the facility.
*A cover letter is NOT required for this position.* *Your complete application will be used to determine which applicants will advance to the interview phase of the recruitment and selection process.*
To view the general description and example of duties for the Assisted Living Aide/Certified Nurse Aide I positions, please go to the following link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/alaska/classspecs?keywords\=assisted%20living%20aide
Minimum Qualifications
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ASSISTED LIVING AIDE:
Physically capable of performing work that requires standing, walking, lifting, bending, and pushing. Special Note
Some positions may require the successful applicant to pass a background investigation and fingerprinting as a prerequisite to employment.
Some positions require the successful applicant to operate State vehicles for the transportation of residents. Such positions require the applicant possess Alaska Driver’s License and the ability to obtain passes to military bases and hospitals.
Some positions may require the successful applicant to provide proof they are free from active pulmonary tuberculosis at the time of hire. Employees are required to be screened annually.
These requirements will be indicated at the time of recruitment. CERTIFIED NURSE AIDE I:
Eligibility for certification to practice as a Certified Nurse Aide in the State of Alaska. Special Note:
Candidates not currently certified by the State of Alaska, who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for certification as a Nurse Aide in the State of Alaska and requisite qualifying experience, may apply for vacancies in this job class. Applicants qualifying under this option may receive a conditional job offer; however, proof of certification will be required prior to final appointment and reporting for duty.
Some positions may require the successful applicant to pass a background investigation, including fingerprinting, as a prerequisite to employment. These requirements will be indicated at the time of recruitment.
Some positions may require the successful applicant to provide proof they are free from active pulmonary tuberculosis at the time of hire. Employees are required to be tested annually. These requirements will be indicated at the time of recruitment.
Additional Required Information
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At time of interview applicant must provide:* Two (2\) professional references (including work/supervisor\-related) and three (3\) character references (personal) with current contact information.
- For Certified Nurse I position: Present a copy of current State of Alaska Certified Nurse Aide certificate or proof of eligibility for licensure.
If selected and prior to hire, applicant will be asked to:* Submit to fingerprinting and criminal background check screening.
- Provide current evidence to be free from active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) with test results dated within the last 12 months prior to start date.
- Provide a copy of current CPR and First Aid certificate(s), if available.
- Provide current evidence of negative results to COVID\-19 testing performed within 1 week prior to start date. See IMPORTANT NOTE below.
- Submit to regular COVID testing as required by the facility.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As part of the employment requirement at this unprecedented time COVID\-19 testing with negative results will be required prior to appointment. Please read the below information carefully. This applies to your application submission. FLEXIBLY STAFFED
This position is flexibly staffed. This vacancy may be filled at either level, depending on the applicant's training and/or experience. It is recommended that you apply for all levels if you qualify. EDUCATION
To verify education being used to meet the required minimum qualifications, you must fill in the Education section of the application. If you have not obtained a degree, please indicate the number of units completed. Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials being used to meet the minimum qualifications for a position and are required with each application. (Unofficial are okay, please ensure that the institution/URL name is listed on the transcripts). Transcripts can be attached at the time of application, provided at the time of interview or if not provided, transcripts will be required prior to appointment.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements, if applicable. If utilizing this education you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. state university reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value, or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the state university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. *Omission of required documentation listed will result in an incomplete application and you will not receive further consideration.* WORK EXPERIENCE
When using work experience not already documented in your application, please provide the employer’s name, your job title, dates of employment, and whether full\-or part\-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine if the responses are supported, and minimum qualifications are clearly met. Work experience needed to meet the minimum qualifications must be documented in the application. If the application does not support minimum qualifications, the applicant may not advance to the interview and selection phase of the recruitment. A resume will not be used to determine that minimum qualifications have been met for the position in which you are applying.
If you are currently or previously been appointed to a flexibly staffed position, please ensure your work experience within a flexibly staffed position indicates the actual dates employed at each level. Ensure your time and any subsequent flex promotion(s) are documented as a separate position. This is required as there are minimum qualifications that require experience at a particular level in which the lower level may not be considered. If this information is not accurately reflected in your application this may cause the processing of your application for consideration to be delayed. NOTE: Attaching a resume or curriculum vitae is not an alternative to filling out the application in its entirety. Noting "see resume or CV" or any similar response on any portion of your application may lead to a determination your application is incomplete and removal from consideration for this job posting. LEGAL EMPLOYMENT
The State’s online recruitment system, Workplace Alaska, requires applicants to certify that they have a legal right to accept employment in the United States. It is the responsibility of the employee to maintain the appropriate documentation to accept or continue legal employment. The State of Alaska does not function in the role of employer sponsor.
The State of Alaska does not provide VISA Employer sponsorships.
RECRUITMENT SCOPE
This position is open to All Applicants.
MULTIPLE VACANCIES
This recruitment may be used for more than one (1\) vacancy. The applicant pool acquired during this recruitment may be used for future vacancies for up to ninety (90\) days after this recruitment closes. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply to each recruitment notice to ensure consideration for all vacancies.
APPLICATION NOTICE
You can ONLY apply for this position through the Workplace Alaska website or via hardcopy application. If you accessed this recruitment bulletin through a job search portal such as AlaskaJobs or any other database, you MUST use a Workplace Alaska online or hardcopy application to successfully apply. Instructions on how to apply with Workplace Alaska may be found on the Workplace Alaska "How to Apply" webpage, found here: http://doa.alaska.gov/dop/workplace/help/
NOTICE
Questions regarding the application process can be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 800\-587\-0430 (toll free) or (907\) 465\- 4095\. If you choose to be contacted by email, please ensure your email address is correct on your application and that the spam filter will permit email from the 'govermentjobs.com' domains. For information on allowing emails from the 'governmentjobs.com' domains, visit the Lost Password Help page located at https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword
EEO STATEMENT
The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).Individuals with disabilities, who require accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats, please call 1\-800\-587\-4095 in Juneau or TTY: Alaska Relay 711 or 1\-800\-770\-8973 or correspond with the Division of Personnel \& Labor Relations at: P. O. Box 110201, Juneau, AK 99811\-0201\. The State of Alaska is an equal opportunity employer.
Contact Information
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WORKPLACE ALASKA APPLICATION QUESTIONS \& ASSISTANCE
Questions regarding application submission or system operation errors should be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 1\-800\-587\-0430 (toll free) or (907\) 465\-4095 if you are located in the Juneau area. Requests for information may also be emailed to recruitment.services@alaska.gov
For applicant password assistance please visit: https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword
For specific information in reference to the position please contact the hiring manager at:
Name: Charisse Mariano
Title: Administrative Assistant 3
Phone: (907\) 780\-6422 x210
Fax: (907\) 780\-4765 (MUST CALL BEFORE to make fax arrangements)
Email: charisse.mariano@alaska.gov
Careers with the State of Alaska offer MANY benefits
The following information describes typical benefits available to employees of the State of Alaska. Actual benefits received may differ by bargaining unit or branch of government, position type, or be prorated for other than full time work.
For a quick breakdown of the insurance, health, and retirement benefits available for State Employees you can view an orientation video from Division of Retirement and Benefits. (Please note this video is specifically designed for new State Employees.)
Insurance Benefits* Health insurance, which includes employer contributions toward medical/vision/dental
+ The following employee groups are under AlaskaCare Benefits administered by the State: See https://drb.alaska.gov/help/plans.html for additional information.
- AVTEC
- Confidential
- Correctional Officers
- Marine Engineers
- Mt. Edgecumbe Teachers
- Supervisory
- Unlicensed Vessel Personnel/Inland Boatman's Union
- Exempt employees (not covered by collective bargaining)
+ The following employee groups are covered by Union health trusts. Contact the appropriate Union for additional information.
- General Government
- Labor, Trades and Crafts
- Public Safety Employees Association
- Masters, Mates \& Pilots
- Employer paid Basic Life insurance with additional coverage available (amount depends on Bargaining Unit)
Optional Insurance Benefits* Group\-based insurance premiums for
+ Term life (employee, spouse or qualified same sex partner, and dependents)
+ Long\-term and short\-term disability
+ Accidental Death and Dismemberment
+ Long\-term care (self and eligible family members)
+ Supplemental Survivor Benefits
- Employee\-funded flexible spending accounts for tax savings on eligible health care or dependent care expenses
Retirement Benefits* Membership in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)/Teachers' Retirement System (TRS)
- Matching employer contribution into a defined contribution program (new employees)
- Employer contribution into a defined benefit or defined contribution program (current employees)
- Contributions to the Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan in lieu of contributions to Social Security
- Option to enroll in the Alaska Deferred Compensation Program
- *Note: The Defined Contribution Plan, Supplemental Annuity Plan and Deferred Compensation Program offer a variety of investment options*
See https://drb.alaska.gov/retiree/ for additional information
Paid Leave \& Other Benefits* Personal leave with an accrual rate increase based on time served
- Twelve (12\) paid holidays a year
Salary Context
This $41K-$47K range is in the lower quartile 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 State of Alaska, 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. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $131,300. This role's midpoint ($44K) sits 73% below the category median. Disclosed range: $41K to $47K.
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.
State of Alaska AI Hiring
State of Alaska has 4 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer. Positions span Anchorage, AK, US, Fairbanks, AK, US, Juneau, AK, US. Compensation range: $47K - $47K.
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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