Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist

ARA is seeking experienced data scientists to work full-time for our Transportation Division Aviation Directorate. This is a full-time position on-site at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) for Advanced Aerospace, co-located at the Atlantic City International Airport.

This position will support a matrix team of talented personnel to conduct research development and test and evaluation of the safe integration of emerging operations, such as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), into the United States National Airspace System (NAS). This work will be accomplished using the unique laboratory capabilities and tools resident at the FAA WJHTC. The team has been tasked to lead human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulations to inform initial entry into service at select major metropolitan areas and the team is researching future states for AAM operations as described in the FAA's Urban Air Mobility Concept of Operations.

The team intends to use AI, rule-based algorithms, and large language modeling to create software with the capability to evaluate vertiport placements and potential airspace usage (routes, corridors). ARA's data scientists will enable pre-evaluation of potential vertiport sites and proposed routes to support suitability decisions earlier in an agile, swift M&S process for this applied research. Also, more routes and sites will be evaluated faster as precursor to the HITL simulations, saving both time and money.

What you will do as a principal data scientist:

• Support software development of AI rule-based algorithms and large language modeling with the capability to evaluate vertiport placements and potential airspace usage (routes, corridors).
• Participate in agile planning discussions including sprint planning (what to deliver), daily stand-ups/"scrums" (progress/blockers), reviews (feedback), and retrospectives. These meetings, often using story points for estimation, ensure a sustainable, realistic pace.
• Design and implement data ingestion, cleaning, and structuring workflows to support repeatable analysis of simulation outputs.
• Develop machine learning models to generalize and extrapolate findings from one simulated airport or vertiport environment to comparable operational environments.
• Conduct predictive analytics and sensitivity analyses to assess throughput, safety margins, infrastructure impacts, and operational tradeoffs.
• Support the building of automated analytics pipelines and scenario comparison tools to support rapid iteration across airport configurations and traffic assumptions.
• Provide and ensure model transparency, traceability, and explainability to support engineering validation.
• Develop data visualizations and decision-support products that translate complex simulation results into actionable insights for scientists, engineers, researchers, and leadership.
• Support integration of AI-enabled analytics with existing FAA simulation environments and research workflows.

Principal data scientist requirements:

• BS in a STEM discipline from an accredited college or university.
• 15+ years of relevant experience in data science or machine learning model development and validations. Advanced degree may be considered in partial fulfillment of the experience requirement if directly applicable.
• Experience in aviation operations, engineering, and/or human factors preferred.
• Must meet suitability requirements to work for a U.S. government agency.

Compensation:

The anticipated salary for this position ranges from $140,000 to $157,000/year, depending on experience. ARA offers competitive benefits that address our employees' needs now and in the future. Learn more about each of our benefits at

About ARA:

ARA is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs more than 2,200 professionals and continues to grow. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in civil technologies, computer software and simulation, defense technologies, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for pavement analysis, environmental site characterization, and robotics.

At ARA, employees are our greatest assets. The corporation realizes that employee ownership spawns greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. ARA gives its employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take more active roles as owners. The culture is challenging; innovation and experimentation are the norm. Employees are eligible for contributions which not only add to the company's success, but also their own through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The motto, "Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit" sums up the ARA experience.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.