Senior Research Lead - AI for Intelligent Systems

Are you an established researcher in the artificial intelligence (AI) field?

Do you have a vision for bringing recent breakthroughs in research to real-world intelligent systems?

Do you want your research to have a real-world impact on areas like national security, public health, or space exploration?

If so, the AI Group in the Intelligent Systems Center (ISC) is looking for someone like you to invent the future of intelligent systems for the nation! We are an interdisciplinary research center with over 100 scientists and engineers working in neuroscience, robotics, AI, and complex systems. Our AI research is currently focused on multimodal perception, autonomous decision-making, safe/trustworthy AI, and generative AI for national security. In addition, we serve as a trusted source of expertise and innovation for government sponsors in defense, intelligence, health, and space exploration.

We are committed to empowering senior researchers to work on things they are passionate about. While we will first onboard you by supporting projects currently underway, we are ultimately hiring you for your ideas and dedication to make them real! We will pair you with a Program Manager to develop a research agenda and plans for internal seedling investment and external sponsor engagement. Along the way, we will support publication of your work and continued engagement with the scientific community.

As a Senior AI Research Lead:

• Your primary responsibility will be to contribute to and/or lead fundamental research in artificial intelligence (AI) in your area of expertise.
• You will team with other researchers and Program Managers at the Laboratory to grow our research portfolio by writing proposals to Government sponsors.
• Where appropriate, you will contribute to applied intelligent systems research and engineering throughout the Laboratory's mission areas and collaborate with staff working in diverse fields.
• You will communicate your research vision, results, and impact to Government sponsors and the broader scientific community through publication and presentation at high-impact venues.

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

• Have a PhD in a relevant field such as Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or Applied Mathematics with dissertation work in fundamental AI research.
• Have 5+ years of post-doctoral or professional experience in AI research, including continued publication in peer-reviewed journals and/or conferences.
• Have demonstrated the ability to write successful research proposals to government sponsors.
• Have working knowledge of Python, including experience using PyTorch and the HuggingFace stack, including the Transformers library.
• Are able to obtain an Interim 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 experience in the following:

• Generative AI, including large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models.
• Single- or multi-agent deep reinforcement learning in constrained environments.
• Adversarial attacks and defenses in models pertaining to imagery, video, audio, or text.
• AI techniques for robotic perception, planning, and navigation.
• Project management or leading small technical teams.

APL is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. 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 promoting an innovative environment that embraces diversity, encourages creativity, and supports inclusion of new ideas. In doing so, we are 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 Accommodations@jhuapl.edu. Only by ensuring that everyone's voice is heard are we empowered to be bold, do great things, and make the world a better place.

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.