Job Description

Position Summary
The Department of Computer Information Systems at Colorado State University is seeking a motivated and technically skilled Non-Student Hourly Employee to support the development of an AI-powered educational assistant for programming and cybersecurity courses.

This position provides an opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI technologies including large language models (LLMs) retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) semantic search cloud deployment and learning management system integration. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with faculty to design implement test and maintain secure and privacy-aware AI systems that enhance student learning while supporting academic integrity.

Appointment Details:

• Hours: 8 hours per week

• Anticipated Start Date: July 15 2026

• End Date: December 31 2026

• Work Schedule: Flexible coordinated with the project supervisor

Responsibilities

The selected candidate will:

• Develop and enhance an AI-powered educational assistant using Python and modern AI frameworks.

• Process and ingest course materials (lecture slides textbooks PDFs assignments and programming examples) for semantic search and retrieval.

• Implement and maintain vector databases and embedding pipelines (e.g. FAISS ChromaDB).

• Develop and improve user interfaces using Gradio Flask or other web technologies.

• Build and maintain logging analytics and confidence-based response evaluation using Firebase.

• Integrate the system with Canvas LMS and CSU authentication services.

• Test debug document and maintain the software throughout development.

• Ensure compliance with data privacy security and academic integrity requirements.

• Fine-tune open-source LLMs (e.g. Llama Mistral Gemma) using course-specific datasets.

• Develop hybrid AI architectures combining locally hosted models with cloud-based LLMs.

• Apply prompt engineering techniques to improve routing response quality and operational cost.

• Deploy and maintain AI services using Google Cloud Run Compute Engine Docker and Firebase.

• Collaborate with faculty on feature development evaluation and continuous system improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

Applicants should possess:

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Computer Information Systems Software Engineering or a closely related field.

• Strong Python programming skills.

• Experience with software development APIs databases and object-oriented programming.

• Familiarity with machine learning natural language processing or large language models.

• Experience with AI frameworks such as LangChain LlamaIndex FAISS ChromaDB or similar technologies.

• Experience with web application development (Flask FastAPI Gradio or equivalent).

• Familiarity with Firebase SQLite PostgreSQL or similar database systems.

• Knowledge of prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

• Experience deploying applications using Docker and Google Cloud Platform is highly desirable.

• Excellent communication organizational and documentation skills.

• Ability to work independently and manage multiple development tasks.

Preferred Skills

Experience with one or more of the following is highly desirable:

• Fine-tuning LLMs using LoRA or QLoRA

• Google Cloud Platform (Cloud Run Compute Engine Firebase)

• Git/GitHub collaborative development

• Cybersecurity concepts and secure software development

• Educational technology or learning management systems

Benefits

• Work on an innovative AI project with real-world educational impact.

• Gain hands-on experience with modern AI technologies and cloud platforms.

• Collaborate directly with faculty on applied AI research.

• Flexible work schedule (8 hours per week).

• Opportunity to contribute to conference papers and scholarly publications.

• Build valuable experience in AI engineering software architecture and educational technology.

How to Apply:

Interested applicants should submit:

• Resume

• Brief cover letter describing relevant experience

• Links to GitHub repositories or AI/software projects (if available)

Applications and questions should be sent to:

Dr. Ramadan Abdunabi
Clinical Professor
Department of Computer Information Systems
Colorado State University
Email:

Salary Range

Required Application Documents

To apply please upload the following applicant documents. Ensure your materials fully address the required and preferred job qualifications of the position. Please note applicants may redact information from their application materials that identifies their age date of birth or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

Employee Benefits

Colorado State University is not just a workplace; its a thriving community thats transforming lives and improving the human condition through world-class teaching research and service. With a robust benefits package collaborative atmosphere and focus on work-life balanceCSUis where you can thrive grow and make a lasting impact.

• Review our detailed benefits information here.

• Explore the additional perks of working at CSU here.

• For the total value of CSU benefits in addition to wages use our compensation calculator.

• Lastly click here for more information about why Fort Collins is consistently ranked in the top cities to live in!

Background Check Policy Statement

Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study work and living environment for its faculty staff volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulationsCSUconducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The type of background check conducted varies by position and can include but is not limited to criminal history sex offender registry motor vehicle history financial history and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when in the discretion of the University it is reasonable and prudent to do so.

EEO

Colorado State University (CSU) provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws.