Lead Software Engineer IV

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 161,300 - 255,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to architect cutting-edge AI systems. You will work on agentic AI platforms and build scalable infrastructure for petabyte-scale data orchestration in Seattle or Richland, WA.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience in Python, cloud architecture, and AI/ML frameworks. A federal security clearance eligibility is required for this position, along with a strong commitment to technical excellence and team leadership.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Python and another programming language.
• Strong expertise in AI/ML architecture and agentic AI systems.
• Experience with cloud and distributed systems architecture.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build AI systems for complex challenges.
• Lead engineers and drive architectural strategy.
• Manage petabyte-scale data orchestration and real-time intelligence.

Skills

Expert Python

C#/.NET

Go

C++

Data Platform Engineering

Leadership & Communication

Education

PhD and 3 years software engineering experience

MS/MA and 5 years software engineering experience

BS/BA and 7 years software engineering experience

AA and 16 years software engineering experience

HS/GED and 18 years software engineering experience

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Overview

At PNNL, core capabilities are divided among major departments called Directorates, each focusing on a specific scientific area or function. Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. The AI and Data Analytics Division within the National Security Directorate develops computational solutions for complex data and analytics challenges, delivering integrated tools across the data analytics lifecycle.

Location

Richland, WA or Seattle, WA – onsite presence Monday through Thursday; Friday required by business needs.

Responsibilities

We are seeking an exceptional Lead Software Engineer to architect and build next‑generation AI systems at PNNL, spanning agentic AI platforms, petabyte‑scale data orchestration, and real‑time intelligence processing.

What You’ll Build

• AI‑Native Systems: Agentic AI with dynamic reasoning, LLM orchestration (LangChain, LlamaIndex, LangGraph), MLOps platforms, and multi‑modal reasoning pipelines.
• Scalable Infrastructure: Microservices across security enclaves, real‑time streaming (TB/hour), petabyte‑scale ETL, data lake/mesh architectures, and Kubernetes/CI‑CD for classified & edge environments.
• Production Systems: Secure AI deployments, observability across enclaves, ethical AI compliance, and geospatial/time‑series intelligence data fusion.
• Technical Leadership: Lead engineers on high‑impact ambiguous scope, drive architecture and strategy, build roadmaps from cutting‑edge research, and mentor teams.

What You Bring

• Engineering Leadership: Expert Python and another language (C#/.NET, Go, C++); proven track record establishing best practices, advanced CI/CD, and architecting distributed systems.
• AI/ML Architecture: Production agentic AI experience; deep expertise with PyTorch/TensorFlow/JAX and LLM orchestration; advanced LLM optimization (LoRA/PEFT, RAG, fine‑tuning); end‑to‑end ML platform design.
• Cloud & Distributed Systems: Enterprise‑scale architecture across AWS/Azure/GCP; Docker/Kubernetes/IaC; event‑driven systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ); API design mastery (REST, GraphQL, gRPC); polyglot persistence (SQL/NoSQL/warehouses).
• Data Platform Engineering: Cloud‑native pipelines & orchestration (Airflow, Prefect); data lakehouse architectures; distributed computing (Spark, Flink, Ray); petabyte‑scale optimization and modern data formats (Parquet, Iceberg, Delta).
• Leadership & Communication: Mentoring teams, articulating strategy to executives & stakeholders, balancing delivery with technical excellence, and driving cross‑functional collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Actively using Python for the previous five years.
• Expert‑level Python: Architecting production frameworks, libraries, and large multi‑language codebases at scale.
• Enterprise ETL/data platform leadership: Designing petabyte‑scale pipelines, orchestration (Airflow, Prefect, Step Functions), and data lakehouse architectures.
• Advanced cloud architecture: Multi‑cloud strategy across AWS, Azure, or GCP with Kubernetes and Infrastructure as Code at enterprise scale.
• FFRDC or national laboratory experience; national security/intelligence experience; production agentic AI/advanced LLM experience; distributed ML at scale.
• Technical team leadership: Proven experience leading engineering teams through ambiguous, high‑impact scope.

Qualifications

• PhD and 3 years software engineering experience –or-
• MS/MA and 5 years software engineering experience –or-
• BS/BA and 7 years software engineering experience –or-
• AA and 16 years software engineering experience –or-
• HS/GED and 18 years software engineering experience.
• Current, hands‑on software development experience using Python.

National Interest Project Examples

• Detect and prevent smuggling of drugs and contraband at ports of entry.
• Develop large data pipelines to thwart funding for terrorists, nuclear proliferators, drug cartels, and rogue leaders.
• Apply big data solutions to national security problems.
• Apply image classification for nuclear forensics analysis.
• Develop capabilities for scalable geospatial analytics.

Security Clearance

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, subject to a Federal background investigation, and eligible for access to classified material in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship.
• Background Investigation: Eligibility for access to classified matter.
• Drug Testing: Pre‑employment and random testing for illegal drugs (including marijuana) per Controlled Substances Act and PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.

Compensation

Minimum Salary: USD 161,300.00/yr.

Maximum Salary: USD 255,000.00/yr.

Equal Employment Opportunity

PNNL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants considered without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.