Data Scientist II

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; United States; On-site; USD 122,720 - 135,512; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Retirement benefits

Paid time off

Learning opportunities

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is looking for an AI Research Engineer to lead the development of autonomous space systems and manage operations automation.

The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and experience in software development and AI techniques. The role includes competitive benefits like health, dental, and flexible schedules.

This position is located in Pasadena, California, and offers a typical annual salary range of $122,720 to $135,512.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline with a minimum of three years of related experience.
• Broad knowledge in software development, artificial intelligence, and resource allocation mechanisms is essential.
• Experience applying programming principles in languages such as Rust, C++, C, Python, and Java.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of autonomous space systems for AI research.
• Automate ground and flight operations for various vessels and missions.
• Develop algorithms for resource allocation to achieve mission goals.

Skills

Software development

Artificial intelligence

Operations research

Resource allocation mechanisms

Programming in languages such as Rust, C++, C, Python, Java

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline

Master's degree with at least one year of experience

PhD with relevant experience

Tools

Deep-learning training and inference pipelines

Large models (VLM, LLM, foundation models)

Job description

Responsibilities

• Lead development of autonomous space systems, supporting AI research and applications in spacecraft autonomy, scientific data analysis, and mission operations automation.
• Automate ground and flight operations for communication stations, space missions, marine vessels, and aerial vehicles, including fleet management.
• Use AI technologies to automate scheduling, planning, and resource allocation for mission‑critical systems.
• Develop planning, scheduling, resource allocation, and execution algorithms that interpret complex state, resource, constraint, and event data to achieve mission goals.
• Build search‑based, constraint‑based, satisfaction, and optimization systems for large‑scale planning and resource allocation problems.
• Create machine‑learning systems for interpreting remote sensing imagery and large multimodal models to reason about imagery, time, patterns, and ramifications.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related discipline with a minimum of three years of related experience; or a master’s degree with at least one year of experience; or a PhD with relevant experience.
• Broad knowledge in software development, artificial intelligence, operations research, and resource allocation mechanisms.
• Experience applying programming principles in languages such as Rust, C++, C, Python, and Java.
• Background knowledge in AI and/or operations research techniques and concepts, demonstrated through documented software artifacts.
• Experience with architecting large models and deep‑learning training and inference pipelines, evidenced by code or publications.
• Experience with large models (VLM, LLM, foundation models) including training, deploying, compressing, evaluating, and testing, demonstrated by code or papers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience in automation and analysis systems for robotic autonomous systems.
• Extensive knowledge of industry and academic standards in software design, development, and computer science.
• Experience in interdisciplinary team leadership.
• Experience writing proposals, task plans, and research publications for peer‑reviewed forums.

Benefits

JPL offers benefits and perks including health, dental, vision, wellness, retirement, paid time off, learning opportunities, rideshare, childcare, flexible schedule, parental leave, and more.

Salary

Typical full‑time annual hiring range in Pasadena, California: $122,720 – $135,512.

Equal Opportunity Employer

JPL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status or any other characteristic or condition protected by federal, state or local law. JPL is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. EEO is the Law. Due to rules imposed by NASA, JPL will not accept applications from citizens of designated countries or those born in a designated country unless they are U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents of the U.S. or have other protected status under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). The designated countries list is available here.