Head of Knowledge Retrieval & Agentic AI Systems

artificial intelligence and robotics laboratory (itu air lab); Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Air is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to provide visionary leadership for end-to-end AI solutions in the defense domain, focusing on RAG, embedding models, and agentic systems. You will mentor engineers, shape roadmaps, and drive scalable AI platforms across Air Enterprise Readiness, collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The role requires a deep AI expertise, strong communication, and the ability to translate complex concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience as a Data Scientist in industry.
• Proven ability to design and deploy RAG architectures for large datasets.
• Experience with multi-modal embedding models and knowledge graphs.
• Proficient in using state-of-the-art LLMs and agentic AI systems.
• Ability to translate complex AI concepts for leadership and non-technical audiences.
• Strong leadership, mentorship, and cross-team collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Drive the architecture of the Air Brain, a complex agent system for knowledge retrieval and deep research.
• Define the multi-year technical roadmap for AI initiatives.
• Mentor senior engineers and build high-performing teams.
• Lead end-to-end execution of large-scale AI projects.
• Collaborate with AI research, data engineering, and software development teams.
• Translate high-level product requirements into actionable technical plans.
• Deliver market-ready AI solutions integrated with client data platforms.
• Stay current with AI innovations and transfer knowledge across the team.

Skills

Data Scientist

RAG architectures

Embedding models

Knowledge graphs

LLMs

Agentic AI systems

MLOps

Mentorship

Job description

Air is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to provide visionary leadership for end-to-end AI solutions in the defense domain, focusing on RAG, embedding models, and agentic systems. You will mentor engineers, shape roadmaps, and drive scalable AI platforms across Air Enterprise Readiness, collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The role requires a deep AI expertise, strong communication, and the ability to translate complex concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.