Senior Artificial Intelligence Researcher

Are you an experienced AI researcher looking to apply your hard-earned expertise to problems that truly matter?

Are you motivated by challenges facing our nation’s security and prosperity?

Does the opportunity to work on groundbreaking research with mission intent excite you?

If so, we're looking for someone like you to join Artificial Intelligence Group at JHU/APL!

Our team works at the intersection of AI research and national defense, solving problems that few other institutions are trusted to work on. Some examples of our current challenges include:

• Optimizing the alignment of AI agents for human-machine teaming
• Improving the reasoning capabilities of agents
• Training and evaluating multimodal foundation models on unique mission datasets
• Agents for self-directed robotic perception, navigation, and problem-solving
• Assessing, mitigating, and exploiting vulnerabilities in frontier models
• Test and evaluation (T&E) of emerging AI research

A Senior AI Researcher in our group is a trusted technical contributor, advancing research in your specialty area while also collaborating with teammates, program managers, and leadership. Our top researchers all play an active role in shaping research directions, engaging with sponsors, and contributing substantively to proposal development and execution. Staff at this level are also relied upon to bring expert judgment to novel problems and to translate ideas into executable, funded work aligned with mission and sponsor priorities.

While this role does not carry line-management responsibility, your experience and perspective will naturally influence the technical quality, direction, and credibility of our group’s work. To this end, we generally support active engagement with the broader research community through publishing, presenting, and external collaboration with academia, industry, and government.

At its core, this role is about bring creativity and credibility to help our team advance the state of the art while inventing the future of our nation’s security and resilience.

You meet our minimum qualifications for the job if you have...

• A PhD degree in a field related to Artificial Intelligence.
• 15+ years of experience in AI research, demonstrated through sustained peer-reviewed publications.
• Examples of concrete, meaningful contributions made to funded research efforts, including proposal development.
• A track record of independently advancing research ideas from concept to execution.
• Are able to obtain an Interim Top Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Top Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

You'll go above and beyond our minimum requirements if you have...

• Recent experience conducting research in any of the following areas:
  • Foundation models (LLMs, VLMs, VLAs)
  • AI for robotic perception, planning, and navigation
  • Alignment of AI systems to human preferences or behaviors
  • Adversarial attacks and defenses for agentic AI systems
  • Red-teaming AI systems for security, safety, or privacy
• Examples of exercising sound technical judgment in ambiguous or high-consequence environments
• Demonstrated ability to communicate research findings clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience working in government labs, research agencies, or frontier AI organizations
• An active Top Secret/SCI clearance

Why Work at APL?

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) brings world-class expertise to our nation’s most critical defense, security, space and science challenges. While we are dedicated to solving complex challenges and pioneering new technologies, what makes us truly outstanding is our culture. We offer a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere where you can bring your authentic self to work, continue to grow, and build strong connections with inspiring teammates.

At APL, we celebrate our differences of perspectives and encourage creativity and bold, new ideas. Our employees enjoy generous benefits, including a robust education assistance program, unparalleled retirement contributions, and a healthy work/life balance. APL’s campus is located in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. Learn more about our career opportunities at  .

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, occupation, marital or familial status, political opinion, personal appearance, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. APL is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals of all abilities, including those with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in any part of the hiring process, please contact  View email address on click.appcast.io .

The referenced pay range is based on JHU APL’s good faith belief at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, market conditions, education/training and skill level with consideration for internal parity. For salaried employees scheduled to work less than 40 hours per week, annual salary will be prorated based on the number of hours worked. APL may offer bonuses or other forms of compensation per internal policy and/or contractual designation. Additional compensation may be provided in the form of a sign-on bonus, relocation benefits, locality allowance or discretionary payments for exceptional performance. APL provides eligible staff with a comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.