Principal Data Scientist

Job ID: 114851 DRS RADA Technologies, a subsidiary of Leonardo DRS, is focused on proprietary radar solutions and legacy avionics systems supporting the defense industry globally. The company is a global pioneer of AESA tactical radars for active military protection, counter-drone applications, critical infrastructure protection, and border surveillance. Job Summary DRS RADA Technologies, a subsidiary of Leonardo DRS, is hiring a Principal Data Scientist on-site in Germantown, MD. DRS RADA Technologies is focused on proprietary radar solutions and legacy avionics systems supporting the defense industry globally. The company is a global pioneer of AESA tactical radars for active military protection, counter-drone applications, critical infrastructure protection, and border surveillance. Join our radar defense team as a Principal Data Scientist and take a leading role in how we ensure data quality and validate the machine-learning models behind mission-critical systems. We are seeking a senior, hands-on practitioner who sets the technical standard for data integrity and classifier evaluation. You will operate within a collaborative, ego-free culture that values technical rigor, clear communication, and results over hierarchy. Job Responsibilities Own and build data-quality tooling, checks, and validation frameworks for time-series and geospatial datasets, ensuring datasets are ready for the ML training pipeline. Lead classifier evaluation and validation. Define and apply rigorous metrics (precision/recall trade-offs, calibration, cross-validation, confusion-matrix and slice-based error analysis) and turn findings into concrete improvements. Establish and enforce standards for data lineage, feature preparation (temporal alignment, resampling, lag features, spatial associations), and reproducibility. Identify and resolve common ML data issues such as misaligned timestamps, invalid labels, class imbalance, and edge cases. Learn and help refine our established model-training process; partner with the team to improve the end-to-end training pipeline. Read, assess, and modernize legacy MATLAB tools; re-implementing in Python or other languages where it improves the process and results. Mentor data engineers and scientists; document assumptions, methods, and limitations; and champion technical rigor across the team. Provide briefings to customers, Senior Leadership, and internal stakeholders on capabilities and performance. Able to work independently or lead small teams and drive projects to completion. Work with customers to understand mission needs, review specifications and requirements, and develop solutions to best support them. Provide budget, cost, and schedule input for design assignments. Qualifications Master’s degree in physical science or engineering discipline; PhD preferred A minimum of 12 years of experience Mastery of technologies and application domain Expected to have knowledge and significant experience in multiple engineering disciplines Must be a team player with good communications skills Deep proficiency in Python for data analysis, preprocessing, and modeling Stron foundation in applied statistics, analystics, and maching learning Proven ability to set technical standards and mentor others Preferred Qualifications: Experience with anomaly detection, time-series analysis, and predictive monitoring. Experience with data-pipeline and orchestration tooling (e.g., Airflow, Spark, SQL). Exposure to geospatial and/or radar data concepts Familiarity with Databricks and/or Azure Experience building data-governance, lineage, or monitoring frameworks U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment. The salary range for this position is $134,332.00-181,349.00. This range reflects the good faith estimate of pay the employer is willing to offer at the time of posting. Several factors can influence the pay scale, including but not limited to: Federal contract labor categories and contract wage rates, collective bargaining agreements, geographic location, business considerations, scope, and responsibilities of the position, local or other applicable market conditions, and internal equity. Other factors include the candidate’s qualifications such as prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education/training, and certifications. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for: annual performance-based bonuses, equity awards, and overtime pay (for non-exempt employees as applicable. Our benefits package includes comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision), employer matching 401(k) retirement plan, paid time off including vacation, holidays, and sick leave (including ant state-mandated paid sick leave), parental leave benefits, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, and life and disability insurance coverage. Taking care of our people is a top priority at Leonardo DRS. We are proud to offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a company contribution to a health savings account, telemedicine, life and disability insurance, legal insurance, and a 401(k) savings plan. We champion wellness programs that focus on physical, emotional, and financial well-being. We develop our talent by offering programs and activities to support career-growth, professional development, and skill enhancement. And we understand there is more to life than work, and the importance of offering flexible work schedules with our 9/80 program, competitive vacation, health/emergency leave, paid parental leave, and community service hours. *Some employees are eligible for limited benefits only Leonardo DRS, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.