Overview
At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.
Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.
The National Security Directorate (NSD) drives science-based, mission-focused solutions to take on complex,?real-world?threats to our nation and the world.
The AI and Data Analytics Division, part of the National Security Directorate, combines profound domain expertise and creative integration of advanced hardware and software to deliver computational solutions that address complex data and analytic challenges. Working in multidisciplinary teams, we connect foundational research to engineering to operations, providing the tools to innovate quickly and field results faster. Our strengths are integrated across the data analytics lifecycle, from data acquisition and management to analysis and decision support.
Responsibilities
We are seeking a qualified Data Scientist with two potential focus areas: AI Assurance Researcher and AI Assurance Research Engineer. This role focuses on advancing the state-of-the-art in AI Assurance by developing rigorous methods and systems to address mission-critical challenges. The position works within teams looking to bridge the gap between research and real-world deployments. The position conducts work in secure environments and executes work from an operation security perspective. Each role will require a candidate who can write high-quality code documented code to enable research methods or deployment.
AI Assurance Researcher key responsibilities:
Train AI models and analyze internal model behaviors to uncover decision boundaries and data characteristics.
Design and execute machine learning experiments that follow the current best practices within the community, including large scale experiments on HPC (e.g. experiments that take a week).
Evaluate AI systems across multiple axes, including standard performance metrics but also generalization to out-of-distribution settings.
Assess empirical results to guide future research and experimental steps.
AI Assurance Research Engineer key responsibilities:
Refactor, modularize, and optimize research code for maintainability and scalability.
Build tools and APIs for seamless deployment and working with unstructured code.
Collaborate with researchers to understand algorithmic intent and with engineers to ensure integration into broader systems.
Develop tools and APIs to enable integrations into mission-relevant environments and workflows.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
BS/BA and 5+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
MS/MA and 3+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
PhD with 1+ year of relevant experience
Preferred Qualifications:
Ability to translate academic methods into deployable tool or research workflows to address critical challenges.
Strong proficiency with PyTorch and other associated deep learning libraries (TensorFlow and Hugging Face).
Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
AI Assurance Researcher:
Familiarity with the current ML research landscape, especially XAI, adversarial machine learning, AI safety, and the science of deep learning.
Interest in taking research proto@types to deployable tools for AI researchers.
Hands-on experience analyzing the internal structures of deep learning models, particularly those associated with LLMs and large vision models.
AI Assurance Research Engineer:
Experience in research engineering, ML engineering, AI systems integration, or applied data science.
Strong proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face).
Comfort navigating research codebases (Jupyter notebooks, unstructured scripts) and translating them into production-ready components.
Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment
Not applicable.
Additional Information
This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
Requirements:
U.S. Citizenship
Background Investigation: Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
Drug Testing: All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the candidate selected is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).
Note: Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy until non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months can be demonstrated.
Testing Designated Position
This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.
About PNNL
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven people come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!
At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, and flexible work schedules. PNNL is located in eastern Washington State-the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living. The Lab's campus is only a 45-minute flight (or ~3 hour drive) from Seattle or Portland, and is serviced by the convenient PSC airport, connected to 8 major hubs.
Commitment to Excellence and Equal Employment Opportunity
Our laboratory is committed to fostering a work environment where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect while solving critical challenges in fundamental sciences, national security, and energy resiliency. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), protected veteran status, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local laws.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures and in employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, contact us at careers@pnnl.gov .
Drug Free Workplace
PNNL is committed to a drug-free workplace supported by Workplace Substance Abuse Program (WSAP) and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs.
If you are offered employment at PNNL, you must pass a drug test prior to commencing employment. PNNL complies with federal law regarding illegal drug use. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you test positive for any illegal controlled substance, including marijuana, your offer of employment will be withdrawn.
Security, Credentialing, and Eligibility Requirements
In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, new employees are required to obtain and maintain a HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credential. To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete and pass a Federal Tier 1 background check investigation. This investigation includes a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last year. This includes marijuana and cannabis derivatives, which are still considered illegal under federal law, regardless of state laws.
For foreign national candidates:
If you have not resided in the U.S. for three consecutive years, you are not eligible for the PIV credential and instead will need to obtain a favorable Local Site Specific Only (LSSO)risk determination to maintain employment. Once you meet the three-year residency requirement, you will be required to obtain a PIV credential to maintain employment.
Mandatory Requirements
Please be aware that the Department of Energy (DOE) prohibits DOE employees and contractors from having any affiliation with the foreign government of a country DOE has identified as a "country of risk" without explicit approval by DOE and Battelle. If you are offered a position at PNNL and currently have any affiliation with the government of one of these countries, you will be required to disclose this information and recuse yourself of that affiliation or receive approval from DOE and Battelle prior to your first day of employment.
Rockstar Rewards
Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company funded pension plan and may enroll in our 401k savings plan. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.
Research Associates excluded.
**Once eligibility requirements are met.
Click Here For Rockstar Rewards (https://careers.pnnl.gov/rockstar-rewards)
Notice to Applicants
PNNL lists the full pay range for the position in the job posting. Starting pay is calculated from the minimum of the pay range and actual placement in the range is determined based on an individual's relevant job-related skills, qualifications, and experience. This approach is applicable to all positions, with the exception of positions governed by collective bargaining agreements and certain limited-term positions which have specific pay rules.
As part of our commitment to fair compensation practices, we do not ask for or consider current or past salaries in making compensation offers at hire. Instead, our compensation offers are determined by the specific requirements of the position, prevailing market trends, applicable collective bargaining agreements, pay equity for the position @type, and individual qualifications and skills relevant to the performance of the position.
Minimum Salary
USD $137,200.00/Yr.
Maximum Salary
USD $223,900.00/Yr.
