Technical Instructor – Emerging Technologies, Python, Data Engineering & AI Development

About Leading Edge Skills

Leading Edge Skills LLC (LES) is an established California-based organization and federal contractor delivering leadership development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data analytics, technology training, and consulting to defense agencies, civilian government organizations, and commercial clients.

Driven by our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve, Leading Edge Skills (LES) is dedicated to making high-quality education accessible to talented and motivated individuals, regardless of their financial circumstances, educational background, or geographical location.

Over the past three years, LES has offered more than 200 scholarships to financially disadvantaged students, helping aspiring professionals access technical education and pursue meaningful careers.

Building on our cybersecurity and data analytics scholarship initiative, we are launching the Emerging Technologies & AI Career Readiness Program, a 12-week, hands-on training experience designed to equip students with marketable technical skills.

Our mission is simple: Give back to the community by passing valuable, often expensive technical knowledge to talented individuals who might otherwise never have the opportunity to access it.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced and passionate technical instructor with strong industry expertise in Python, data analytics, modern cloud data platforms, and artificial intelligence application development.

The ideal candidate is more than a technical expert. We are looking for someone who genuinely enjoys teaching, mentoring, and sharing knowledge, particularly with individuals facing financial or educational barriers.

Our students will include veterans, military reservists, high school students, career changers, recent graduates, and professionals from diverse academic backgrounds. Many will receive scholarships.

The instructor will help students progress from foundational technical knowledge to practical, job-oriented competencies through live demonstrations, industry-relevant examples, and project-based instruction.

The objective is not simply to teach technologies, but to prepare students to demonstrate their skills to potential employers.

Required Technical Expertise

1. Python Programming – Intermediate to Advanced

• Strong practical experience with Python, including data structures, functions, modules, object-oriented programming, APIs, exception handling, and debugging.
• Proficiency with Pandas, NumPy, data manipulation, automation, and practical application development.
• Ability to teach coding concepts to learners without computer science degrees.

2. Excel, Data Analytics & SQL

• Advanced Excel capabilities, including PivotTables, XLOOKUP, data cleaning, reporting, and analytical models.
• Working knowledge of SQL, relational databases, querying, and data transformation.
• Ability to connect Excel, Python, and SQL to real business problems.

3. Cloud Data Platforms & Data Engineering

• Practical knowledge of Databricks, Snowflake, or comparable modern data platforms.
• Understanding of data warehouses, data lakes, lakehouse architecture, ETL/ELT processes, and data pipelines.
• Ability to design realistic exercises using accessible training environments and sample datasets.

4. Artificial Intelligence & AI Application Development

• Strong understanding of machine learning fundamentals, generative AI, and large language models.
• Hands-on experience integrating AI APIs into Python applications.
• Familiarity with prompt engineering, embeddings, vector databases, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and AI agents.
• Ability to demonstrate practical AI applications, basic deployment, testing, and responsible AI practices.

5. Software Development & Project Delivery

• Experience with Git/GitHub, application documentation, testing, and debugging.
• Familiarity with Streamlit, FastAPI, or similar technologies for building practical applications.
• Ability to guide students through developing a functional, portfolio-ready capstone project.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with LES to finalize a structured 12-week curriculum aligned with entry-level industry requirements.
• Deliver live instruction and technical demonstrations every Saturday for the first 11 weeks.
• Develop or review weekly instructional slides, practical examples, labs, assignments, and supporting learning resources.
• Coord…