Computational Linguist

University of Maryland; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence & Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland is seeking a Computational Linguist to advance NLP, AI/ML, and OSINT solutions for national security. You will contribute to government-sponsored projects addressing autonomy, decision support, cyber operations, and information warfare while collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree, demonstrate research excellence, and be eligible for US security

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field required.
• Evidence of sound scholarly production.
• Perform R&D at a level comparable to Assistant Research Scientist.
• Evidence of sound scholarly production (e.g., conference presentations, published journal articles, published code, published datasets, technical reports).
• 5 years of research experience.
• Background in and demonstrated proficiency with computational linguistics/natural language processing (NLP).
• Experience utilizing AI/ML tools (including LLMs) and supporting technologies for text data analysis.

Skills

Python for NLP

Microsoft Office

Troubleshooting

Multi-tasking

Analytical thinking

AI/ML tools

Pandas

NumPy

BeautifulSoup

scikit-learn

spaCy

transformers

PyTorch

LLMs

Project leadership

Education

Doctoral degree

Tools

Pandas

NumPy

BeautifulSoup

Requests

scikit-learn

spaCy

transformers

PyTorch

Job description

Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence & Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland is a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC) dedicated to advancing research, innovation, and technology transition to improve decision making for U.S. national security. ARLIS combines deep scientific expertise with operational insight to address challenges in intelligence analysis, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence / machine learning, quantum science, and human-machine teaming. Researchers, scientists, engineers, and analysts at ARLIS collaborate with government agencies, industry partners, and academic institutions to deliver actionable insights and transformative solutions through research and development. Employees at ARLIS work on projects of critical importance, contribute directly to the nation’s security, and are supported by a culture that values integrity, collaboration, and professional growth. The Computational Linguist will contribute to a portfolio of government-sponsored projects addressing emerging challenges in areas such as autonomy, decision support, cyber operations, information warfare, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and natural language processing. Positions may include a focus on research development, prototyping, experimentation, systems integration, or field deployment. Final appointment title and responsibilities will be based on qualifications and matched to programmatic needs. Must be able to obtain a US security clearance. If selected, must meet the requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to a government security clearance investigation that includes criminal and credit history checks, as well as verification of U.S. citizenship, birth, education, employment, and military history. Final offer is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to successfully obtain the necessary interim Secret security clearance, as determined by ARLIS, prior to commencing employment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced knowledge of Python for all-purpose use/application to a variety of problems (comfort with all commonly used aspects of the language, with general scripting, data science, task automation, data collection, etc.), plus demonstrated evidence of 1+ years of regular use for professional/research purposes involving NLP. 5+ years of regular use for professional/research purposes preferred.
• Skill in the use of Microsoft Office products.
• Skill in troubleshooting system errors.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize assignments.
• Ability to analyze situations and determine the best recourse for response.

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field, from an accredited college or university.
• Evidence of sound scholarly production.
• Perform R&D at a level comparable to Assistant Research Scientist.
• Evidence of sound scholarly production (e.g., conference presentations, published journal articles, published code, published datasets, technical reports).
• 5 years of research experience.
• Background in and demonstrated proficiency with computational linguistics/natural language processing (NLP), such as through the application of NLP to problems in candidate’s area of expertise.
• Experience utilizing AI/ML tools (including LLMs) and supporting technologies relevant to the enrichment and analysis of text data, such those used in RAG pipelines, NER, sentiment analysis, general semantic search, etc. Experience training and/or tuning models preferred.
• Experience with Python packages commonly used for AI/ML, text parsing/processing, data collection, and data science preferred (e.g., Pandas, Numpy, BeautifulSoup or other XML/HTML parsers, experience with web requests/scripted API utilization, scikit-learn, spaCy, transformers, pytorch, and/or similar).
• Experience leading applied research projects.

Physical Demands

Sedentary work performed in a normal office environment; exerts up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Ability to attend meetings both on and off campus. Spending long hours in front of a computer screen.

Preferences

• Degree in computational linguistics or linguistics, computer science with a focus on language technologies, or related analytic discipline.
• Comfort working independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Active, or eligible for a security clearance; prior clearance at SECRET or higher that is active or inactive is preferred; current TS/SCI clearance strongly preferred.
• Foreign language capabilities, at the advanced level.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary project teams.

Financial Disclosure Required No. For more information on Financial Disclosure, please visit Maryland's State Ethics Commission website.

Posting Close Date: N/A Open Until Filled: Yes.

Regular Salary Range $150,000 - $180,000

Benefits Summary For more information on Regular Faculty benefits, select this link.

Background Checks

Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify anyone from employment. Before any adverse decision, the finalist will have an opportunity to provide information to the University regarding disclosable background check information. The University reserves the right to rescind the offer of employment or otherwise decline or terminate employment if the information reported by the background check is deemed incompatible with the position, regardless of when the background check is completed.

Employment Eligibility

The successful candidate must complete employment eligibility verification (on Form I-9) by presenting documents that establish identity and work authorization within the timeframe required by federal immigration law, and where applicable, to demonstrate renewed employment authorization. Failure to complete employment eligibility verification or reverification within the timeframe set forth by law may result in suspension or termination of employment.

EEO Statement

The University of Maryland, College Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. Please read the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy.

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The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 40,700 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and 388,000 alumni all dedicated to the pursuit of Fearless Ideas. Located just outside Washington, D.C., we discover and share new knowledge every day through our renowned research enterprise and programs in academics, the arts and athletics. And we are committed to social entrepreneurship as the nation’s first "Do Good" campus.