Member/Senior - R&D Artificial Intelligence (AI) Models, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; Albuquerque (NM); Hybrid; USD 102,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

9/80 compress workweek

4/10 compress workweek

Telecommuting options

Relocation assistance

Generous vacation

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking AI researchers to advance national security through cutting-edge AI methods and collaborations with industry, government, and academia. You will design, train, and evaluate large-scale AI models, work with cross-disciplinary teams, and publish results.

The role requires strong software development, Python/C++ skills, and a focus on robust, secure AI solutions. The team is part of the Center for Computing Research, offering access to state-of-the-art

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with ability to perform independent R&D and development.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance.

Responsibilities

• Conduct creative AI research and develop supporting software to advance Sandia missions.
• Collaborate with engineers, mathematicians and scientists across disciplines.
• Publish in journals and conferences; present at national and international venues.
• Design and train large-scale models and scientific models.
• Research, fine-tune, and certify large reasoning models (LLMs, graph neural nets, etc.).
• Develop and integrate domain foundation models using DOE data.

Skills

Deep learning

AI research

Python programming

Communication

Collaborative work

Software development practices

Model deployment

Distributed computing

C++/CUDA

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Graduate degree in a relevant computational discipline

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Python

MPI

Horovod

Ray

Kubernetes

C++

CUDA

Job description

Job Details

• Job ID: 699470
• Location: Albuquerque, NM
• Full-Time
• Temporary

About Sandia

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting‑edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co‑workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten‑hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part‑time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World‑changing technologies. Life‑changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like

Sandia is partnering with industry, government, and academia to advance AI capabilities through research, development, and deployment. These collaborations facilitate support of DOE's AI initiatives, including the transfer and commercialization of award‑winning AI technology, and the training of future leaders who must anticipate and tackle problems facing the nation.

We are seeking artificial intelligence (AI) researchers to tackle some of the most challenging national security challenges. As a valued member of our collaborative team, you will work alongside talented, multidisciplinary researchers to both leverage existing AI models and techniques and innovate in this space to address the unique needs of Sandia applications. If this sounds like an exciting challenge to you, we look forward to reading your application!

On any given day, you may be called upon to:

• Conduct creative AI research and develop supporting software to impact key Sandia missions
• Collaborate with engineers, mathematicians and scientists across many disciplines
• Publish in journals and conferences, and present at national and international venues
• Design and train large‑scale models and scientific models
• Research, fine‑tune, and certify large reasoning models (LLMs, graph neural nets, vision transformers, etc.) for various science and engineering domain tasks
• Develop and integrate domain foundation models trained or adapted on DOE simulation, experimental, and production data
• Develop Scientific discovery loops that include simulation and experiments in the loop for advancing state of the art
• Build AI surrogates to accelerate exascale multiphysics simulations
• Design and implement multi‑agent frameworks
• Run red‑team evaluations to stress‑test foundation models for robustness and fairness
• Advise domain scientists on model‑based hypothesis generation
• Execute and optimize your software on state‑of‑the‑art testbed computers and supercomputers at Sandia and other DOE facilities
• Present prototype demos and research results to stakeholders across DOE, DoD, IC, and industry
• Help us define the future of computing

*The selected applicant can work a combination of onsite and offsite work. The selected applicant must live within a reasonable distance for commuting to the assigned work location when necessary.

Salary Range

$102,400 - $199,700

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Qualifications We Require

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance

Qualifications We Desire

The ideal R&D S&E Artificial Intelligence (AI) candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in a relevant computationally‑intensive discipline where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Experience in developing software and AI systems for enterprise and national security applications.
• Demonstrated software development skills and familiarity with modern software development practices.
• Proven ability to work and communicate effectively in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team environment.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• Experience working in collaborative software teams and familiarity with modern software development practices.
• Demonstrated expertise with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and proficiency in Python.
• Demonstrated experience in building AI models (pretrain, finetune or post‑train) or agentic systems for science and engineering domains
• Experience deploying large language models, multimodal AI systems, or advanced agentic systems
• Hands‑on experience with model optimization techniques (quantization, pruning, distillation) and hardware acceleration
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks (MPI, Horovod, Ray) and orchestration tools (Kubernetes)
• Proficiency with C++, CUDA, or other performance‑oriented languages/environments.

About Our Team

The Center for Computing Research (CCR) at Sandia creates technology and solutions for many of our nation's most demanding national security challenges. The Center's portfolio spans the spectrum from fundamental research to state‑of‑the‑art applications. Our work includes computer system architecture (both hardware and software); enabling technology for modeling physical and engineering systems; and research in discrete and applied mathematics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and high‑performance computing.

As part of CCR, the Scalable AI Models and Algorithms Department creates breakthrough algorithms and develops innovative AI solutions that unlock the potential of next‑generation AI models and hardware, leveraging deep expertise in applied mathematics, artificial intelligence, and computational science to tackle performance, scalability, and efficiency challenges while shaping the future of computing. While mission driven and focused, we perform most of our research in the public domain, which allows the R&D professionals in the department to publish in the open literature and effectively team with leaders at other labs, universities, and industry.

You will be part of a multi‑disciplinary, success‑oriented team working on mission‑critical AI model development and deployment with national security implications. If you're passionate about advancing cutting‑edge AI algorithms and developing innovative solutions that impact national security, we want to hear from you!

Posting Duration

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre‑employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q‑level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug‑releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on‑site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.