Computer Systems Researcher (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Research) - Mid to Experienced Level (Maryland)

CNSS • National Security Systems; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

NSA in Fort Meade seeks Computer Science professionals to solve complex problems, test approaches and research new solutions for storing and presenting information. The role focuses on AI/ML, high performance computing, and cybersecurity to support national security.

You will work on turning research ideas into prototype-grade systems, collaborate with academia and industry, publish findings, and help transition NSA technology to the marketplace through open source and partnerships.

Qualifications

• Degree in CS or CE with concentration in algorithms, data structures and math.
• Experience in computer systems research, software design, or ML.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct experiments, document results, and communicate with stakeholders.
• Train and deploy ML models and analyze results.
• Design and prototype software and hardware solutions for mission needs.

Skills

Machine learning

Artificial intelligence

High performance computing

Data science

Human-computer interaction

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering

Tools

Python

C++

Rust

Software reverse engineering

Machine learning libraries

Job description

NSA is in search of Computer Science professionals to solve complex problems, test innovative approaches and research new solutions to storing, manipulating, and presenting information. We are looking for you to apply your computer science expertise to projects that seek to create new standards for the transformation of information. If you want to develop technologies and tools and be a part of cutting edge innovations; join our team of experts! Help protect national security interests as part of the world's most advanced team of computer science professionals!

Are you looking to apply your computer science and other technical expertise to develop technologies and tools and be a part of cutting edge innovations? Come join our team of experts! NSA is in search of Research Scientists and Senior Research Scientists to solve complex problems, test innovative approaches and research new solutions to make the U.S. and its allies safer and more secure. Help protect national security interests as part of the world's most advanced team of computer science professionals.

• Please upload a copy of your transcripts from all schools attended, prior to applying for this position. Unofficial transcripts are fine at this stage. The minimum qualifications for this position require a degree that demonstrates a concentration of Computer Science (CS) courses in foundational CS areas. The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position.

Degree must be in Computer Science (CS) or Computer Engineering (CE). Other STEM fields (e.g., Engineering, Mathematics, or Information Systems (IS)) may be considered relevant if the programs contain, at minimum, a concentration of courses in the following foundational CS areas: algorithms; computer architecture (not network architecture); programming methodologies and languages; data structures; logic and computation; and advanced mathematics (for example, calculus, discrete mathematics).

Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: computer systems research, simulation/model development and prototyping, software design, programming, computational science, algorithm analysis and design, reverse engineering, designing/developing computer or information systems, including engineering hardware or software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, visualization, human-computer interaction, data science, or high performance computing.

FULL PERFORMANCE

Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 3 years of relevant experience or a Master's degree plus 1 year of relevant experience or a Doctoral degree and no experience. An Associate's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience may be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position.

SENIOR

Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 6 years of relevant experience or a Master's degree plus 4 years of relevant experience or a Doctoral degree plus 2 years of relevant experience. An Associate's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience may be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position.

NSA Research Scientists are actively expanding the boundaries of what can be accomplished with artificial intelligence, machine learning, human-machine teaming, software reverse engineering, data science, novel architectures, cyber security, high performance computing, and computational linguistics. Our experts generalize mission problems, advance the scientific state-of-the-art to solve problems, and work with other NSA organizations to get solutions in front of mission users and decision-makers.

Our researchers also have the opportunity to collaborate regularly with the scientific community, academia, industry, and other government laboratories; publish papers on unclassified aspects of our work in scientific journals and at conferences; transfer NSA technology to the marketplace through open source software releases and public-private partnerships; serve as faculty members at local universities; and participate in university and K-12 STEM outreach activities across the country.

The ideal candidate must be able to demonstrate sound judgement, strong technical skills and the ability to work effectively in a dynamic team environment, as well as independently. Excellent oral and written communication skills, and a proven track record of analyzing and solving technical problems with innovative solutions are also preferred. The candidate should have demonstrated success in conducting Computer Science research to include turning research ideas into running prototype-grade systems.

As a Computer Systems Researcher, Other Responsibilities May Include

• Conducting scientific experiments, documenting results, and communicating with colleagues, customers, and decision makers.
• Training, testing, and deploying machine learning models.
• Applying software engineering principles to design and/or develop software applications.
• Designing and optimizing algorithms, data structures, modeling, and analytics to solve real-world scientific problems.
• Using principles, techniques, procedures, and tools to architect and facilitate the development of hardware solutions.
• Developing methods and applications for tools to exploit and analyze computer systems and network vulnerabilities.
• Modeling, simulating, prototyping, and/or benchmarking high performance computing systems.
• Developing and implementing approaches to increase the productivity and/or efficiency of high performance computers.
• Investigating and validating the security properties claimed by confidential computing mechanisms and architectures.
• Advancing the understanding and capabilities for flexible, layered integrity measurement and attestation architectures and mechanisms.
• Research, design, and prototype novel approaches to operating system, hypervisor, or firmware security.
• Applying machine learning models to perform enhanced monitoring and anomaly detection on embedded systems' network communications to include IoT devices using Bluetooth and other wireless IoT protocols.
• Transitioning state-of-the-art AI/ML research from proofs-of-concept to production-grade systems capable of processing exascale multimodal data streams.
• Developing \ Candidates with experience in cybersecurity, computer network defense, vulnerabilities and countermeasures, software development and debugging, network protocols, and those with expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) are strongly encouraged to apply.

Relevant experience in content processing, content triage, and human centered AI involving multimodal data, to include speech, image, video or text. Seeking applicants with experience in: machine learning model research, multilingual and multimodal modeling, automatic speech recognition (ASR), large language models (LLM), agentic AI, knowledge management, ontologies, AI security, explainable AI, human AI teaming, visualization, data science, human subject research and Sensemaking analytics. Current research focus areas include: Human Language Technology (HLT), Computer Vision (CV), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and Human Machine Teaming HMT.

Candidates with proven ability to synchronize and fuse disparate data streams (audio, video, text, signals) into unified latent spaces for holistic sensemaking.

Candidates with knowledge, skills and experience in high performance computing are also strongly encouraged to apply; in particular, processor and system architectures and networks, memory, tasking (accelerators, parallelism, resource management, heterogeneous computing), productivity (systems modeling & simulation, evaluation, prototyping and benchmarking), scalable algorithms, programming languages (Python, C++, Rust) and libraries, and hardware-software co-design.

Candidates with experience in model alignment and tuning, such as, Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), Reinforcement Learning for Calibrated Decisions (RCLD), Direct Preference Optimization (DPO), and Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning (PEFT) strategies (e.g., LoRA, QLoRA).

Candidates with knowledge and experience in future telecommunication networks (5G/6G), IoT security, device management, machine learning technologies, Linux or Windows programming and debugging, software design and development, virtualization/containers, Cloud, Trusted Computing, and other specialized computer platforms are strongly encouraged to apply.

Desired Skills

• Programming (low level, high level, parallel)
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Foundation models (FMs) (Large Language Models (LLMs), as well as models for other modalities)
• Simulation/model development and prototyping
• Software engineering
• Hardware engineering
• Architectures and Distributed Computing
• Algorithm analysis and design
• Reverse engineering
• Operating systems and/or device driver development (desktop/server/RTOS)
• Cybersecurity/Computer Network Defense
• Trustworthy systems
• Computer and network security
• Telecommunication systems