Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist - Frontier Lab

Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist

At the SEI AI Division, we conduct research in applied artificial intelligence and the engineering challenges related to building, deploying, and sustaining AI-enabled systems for high-impact government missions.

The Frontier Lab advances AI engineering and transitions frontier AI capabilities to government stakeholders through applied research, rapid prototyping, short-cycle TEVV, and technical advisory.

Position Summary

As a Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist in the Frontier Lab, you will serve as a senior individual contributor and technical leader, shaping and executing applied research and prototype capability development for government and Do W missions. This role spans the research-engineering spectrum: some SR MLRS hires may lean more research-heavy and others more engineering-heavy, but successful candidates collaborate effectively across both.

You will operate with high autonomy, represent technical work with customers and stakeholders, and help guide Frontier Lab research direction—while remaining hands-on in development, evaluation, and delivery. Your work may span Frontier Lab focus areas such as:

• Agentic AI for mission workflows (e.g., planning, analysis, decision support) where autonomous and human-guided agents interact with tools, data systems, and operators.
• AI test, evaluation, verification, and validation (TEVV) to improve confidence in performance, robustness, uncertainty, and trustworthiness of ML-enabled systems.
• Mission-tailored language models, including techniques to improve accuracy and reliability, reduce hallucinations, and integrate structured knowledge for operational tasks.
• Mission modalities and multimodal learning, including sensor fusion and learning under noisy, sparse, or constrained data conditions (including synthetic data and weakly-/self-supervised approaches).
• AI at the tactical edge, enabling capability under constrained compute/connectivity through efficient inference, compression, rapid adaptation, and update/redeploy patterns.

Key Responsibilities / Duties

• Mission-context execution: Execute work within the operational context—understanding users, workflows, constraints, success criteria, and outcomes—so technical decisions are grounded in real mission needs.
• Technical leadership / Tech lead: Lead technical execution by defining technical tasking, sequencing work into realistic milestones, maintaining delivery quality, and delegating appropriately across the team.
• Applied research and prototyping: Design and run studies, build convincing prototypes and reference implementations, and produce evidence-backed insights that can be matured and transitioned into operational settings.
• Evaluation, assurance, and evidence: Establish credible evaluation strategies and test pipelines that assess performance, robustness, reliability, and trustworthiness in mission-representative scenarios.
• Customer-facing technical ownership: Serve as the primary technical interface when appropriate; translate mission goals into measurable technical outcomes; communicate progress, decisions, and risks clearly to stakeholders.
• Mentorship and talent development: Proactively mentor junior staff and teammates, raising the bar for research rigor, engineering practice, and delivery habits across project teams.
• State-of-the-art awareness and agenda shaping: Maintain strong awareness of frontier developments aligned to the Frontier Lab, share insights with the lab, and help shape research directions and future work selection.
• Self-direction and time management: Manage multiple priorities effectively, sustain steady execution cadence, and resolve blockers with minimal oversight.
• Community building (internal and external): Build a strong research culture through internal talks, reading groups, and workshops; and engage with external AI/ML communities (professional societies, consortiums, working groups, and conferences) to strengthen collaboration pathways and keep the lab connected to emerging practice.

Requirements

• Education / Experience: BS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, or related field with 10 years of relevant experience; OR MS with 8 years of relevant experience; OR PhD with 5 years of relevant experience.
• Deep expertise in one or more Frontier Lab-aligned areas (agentic systems, LLM reliability/evaluation, CV evaluation, robustness/assurance, TEVV pipelines, multimodal learning, edge ML).
• Strong engineering capability – can build and maintain high-quality prototypes, evaluation infrastructure, and repeatable experimentation workflows.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to represent technical work credibly to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical workstreams and coordinate multi-person execution.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities (KSAs)

• Technical judgment: Makes sound architectural and methodological decisions; balances ambition with mission constraints.
• Customer translation: Converts mission needs into tractable technical plans, measurable success criteria, and credible evaluation evidence.
• Scientific leadership: Maintains rigor; identifies flawed assumptions; improves evaluation quality and research practices.
• Mentorship & influence: Elevates team performance through hands-on guidance and strong technical standards.
• Initiative: Proactively identifies risks/opportunities, proposes new work, and creates alignment without directive management.
• Self-direction and time management: Plans work effectively under ambiguity, maintains execution cadence, and escalates risks early.

Desired Experience

• Leading applied research projects resulting in effective prototypes, mission-relevant evaluation outcomes, or transitioned methods.
• Publications at strong venues (e.g., NeurIPS / ICLR / ICML, relevant workshops, MLCON), and/or demonstrable impact through applied research artifacts (benchmarks, evaluation suites, open-source, technical reports).
• Designing and operating TEVV efforts including evaluation pipelines, robustness analysis, calibration/uncertainty work, regression suites, and scenario-based evaluation protocols.
• Building agentic capabilities integrated with tools, data systems, and human workflows (decision support, planning, analytic contexts).
• Experience with secure or operational environments and delivery constraints typical of government settings.
• Experience shaping a technical roadmap or research portfolio aligned to sponsor priorities and lab strategy.

Other Requirements

• Flexible to travel to SEI offices in Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, DC / Arlington, VA, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings (~10% travel).
• You must be able and willing to work onsite at an SEI office in Pittsburgh, PA or Arlington, VA 5 days per week.
• You will be subject to a background investigation and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.

Joining the CMU team opens the door to an array of exceptional benefits.

Benefits eligible employees enjoy a wide array of benefits including comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance as well as a generous retirement savings program with employer contributions. Unlock your potential with tuition benefits, take well-deserved breaks with ample paid time off and observed holidays, and rest easy with life and accidental death and disability insurance.

Additional perks include a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass, access to our Family Concierge Team to help navigate childcare needs, fitness center access, and much more!

For a comprehensive overview of the benefits available, explore our Benefits page.

At Carnegie Mellon, we value the whole package when extending offers of employment. Beyond credentials, we evaluate the role and responsibilities, your valuable work experience, and the knowledge gained through education and training. We appreciate your unique skills and the perspective you bring. Your journey with us is about more than just a job; it's about finding the perfect fit for your professional growth and personal aspirations.

Are you interested in an exciting opportunity with an exceptional organization?! Apply today!

Location

Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA

Job Function

Software/Applications Development/Engineering

Position Type

Staff – Regular

Full Time/Part time

Full time

Pay Basis

Salary

More Information:

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• Click here to view a listing of employee benefits
• Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.
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