Senior Data Scientist IV - AI Safety

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 NSD, 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

The AI & Data Analytics division is seeking to hire a Senior Data Scientist for AI Safety applied research. This role blends foundational research with real-world implementation to address some of the most complex and consequential challenges at the intersection of artificial intelligence and national security. We support PNNL's mission by contributing to impactful, mission-focused applied R&D projects that help tackle national challenges.

Work Location & Requirements

• Based in Richland, WA or Seattle, WA with onsite presence required

• Clearance required (see below for details)

• Travel may be required for stakeholder engagement or project events

Key Responsibilities

As a Senior Data Scientist (Data Scientist 4), you will serve as a senior technical expert and leader setting technical direction and vision for AI Safety research, drive proposal development, mentor early through senior researchers, and engage directly with stakeholders. Key responsibilities include:

• Set technical direction for projects developing and applying safety methods and pipelines that analyze model internals (e.g., attention, routing, memory, tokenization, tool-use) and/or surface failure modes, capabilities, and risk profiles.

• Engage with stakeholders to translate mission needs and operational constraints into actionable safety requirements, test plans, and success criteria aligned with mission-driven goals.

• Lead projects and programs to design, implement, and validate model evaluation for cutting edge AI including frontier AI systems (e.g. LLMs, LVMs, multimodal, agentic) or development/verification of safety controls and guardrails.

• Translate cutting-edge research into mission-relevant tools and prototypes; rapidly evaluate new techniques and standards in AI safety, algorithm or system evaluation, and trustworthy AI.

• Lead development of AI safety methods across multiple axes: robustness, uncertainty quantification, manipulation, autonomy and tool-use risks, stress testing, generalization, or reliability under distribution shift.

• Build effective relationships across teams and divisions; mentor junior and senior staff; cultivate an inclusive, collaborative research culture.

• Maintain awareness of emerging trends in AI safety, AI security, alignment, national security operations, and relevant standards to shape future research directions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to collaborate in multi-disciplinary, mission-driven teams and operate effectively in high-stakes

• Demonstrated proficiency in leading proposals, writing technical reports, and communicating complex findings to diverse audiences (technical and executive).

• Knowledge of compute environments and their cybersecurity concerns; familiarity with secure ML ops, access control, and model/data governance.

• Deep knowledge of the current ML research landscape, especially AI safety, adversarial machine learning, xAI/interpretability, uncertainty quantification, and the science of deep learning.

• Hands-on experience analyzing internal structures of deep learning models, particularly LLMs and large vision/multimodal models (tokenization, attention mechanisms, routing, weight adaptation, loss optimization) or modalities including hyperspectral imagery.

• Experience designing and executing T&E campaigns for AI systems, including test planning, dataset curation, metrics, statistical analysis, and reproducibility.

• Software engineering foundations: Python, ML frameworks (PyTorch/TensorFlow), experiment tracking, and data pipeline tooling.

• Strong stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to connect technical safety work to operational mission outcomes.

• Proven track record delivering AI safety/evaluation work products in complex domains, including National Security.

• Hands-on experience with LLM/LVM/Foundation Model and Frontier AI evaluation, red-teaming, uncertainty analysis, or safety control implementation.

• Experience leading federally funded R&D projects, with publications, open-source contributions, or deployable prototypes.

Team & Culture

We foster a collaborative and innovative environment centered on continued learning, creative problem-solving, and responsible, data-driven innovation. You will work as part of interdisciplinary teams to deliver AI safety solutions for high-stakes, real-world applications. Our teams combine expertise in AI and machine learning, software engineering, human-centered design, and national security missions.

Read more about the AI & Data Analytics division:

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS/BA and 7+ years of relevant work experience -OR-

• MS/MA and 5+ years of relevant work experience -OR-

• PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience serving as PI, technical lead, or project manager on multi-institution R&D efforts.

• Demonstrated impact in safe and trustworthy AI (e.g., peer-reviewed publications, recognized awards, contributions to community standards).

• Familiarity with agentic AI safety (tool-use governance, retrieval hygiene, autonomous decision workflows) and evaluation of multi-step reasoning systems.

• Experience with privacy-preserving ML (e.g., differential privacy, federated learning), robust training methods, and secure data lifecycle practices.

• Background working with or mapping to relevant frameworks/standards (e.g., AI safety/testing best practices, risk management frameworks) and translating them into test and evaluation plans.

• Prior work in national security environments, with an understanding of mission needs and operational constraints.

• Active DOE Q or TS/SCI clearance.

Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment

Not applicable.

Additional Information

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.

A security clearance background investigation includes review of your employment, education, financial, and criminal history, as well as interviews with you and your personal references, neighbors, and co-workers to determine trustworthiness, reliability, and loyalty to the United States. The investigation also examines your foreign connections, drug and alcohol use, foreign influence, and overall conduct.

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 applicant selected for hire is subject to pre-employment drug testing, and post-employment 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 if non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months cannot be demonstrated.

"Referral Eligible"

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 (PNNL) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. PNNL considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, 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 View email address on click.appcast.io .

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

As a national laboratory, PNNL is responsible for adhering to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, which require new employees to obtain and maintain a HSPD-12 Personal Identify Verification (PIV) Credential. To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete the applicable tier of federal background investigation post hire and receive a favorable federal adjudication. The tier of federal background investigation will be determined by job duties and national security or public trust responsibilities associated with the job. All tiers of investigation include a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last 1 to 7 years (depending on the applicable tier of investigation). Illegal drug activities include 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) Federal risk determination to maintain employment. Once you meet the three-year residency requirement thereafter, you will be required to obtain a PIV credential to maintain employment. The tier of federal background investigation required to obtain the PIV credential will be determined by job duties at the time you become eligible for the PIV credential.

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, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, 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 401 (k) savings plan with company match*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

• Research Associates excluded.

**All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.

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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 $166,800.00/Yr.

Maximum Salary

USD $275,200.00/Yr.