Mission-Focused AI Data Scientist for National Security

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is seeking a Data Scientist with expertise in AI to tackle mission-critical national security challenges. You will join an interdisciplinary team applying AI/ML to datasets, developing data-driven solutions, and transitioning research into field-ready capabilities.

You will collaborate with domain experts to align applied work with the sponsor priorities while mentoring junior staff and expanding the organization's data-driven impact.

Qualifications

• Experience distinguishing between when it is appropriate to use classical statistics/modeling versus standard machine learning versus frontier modeling or agentic systems.
• Capable of setting up a data management solution for scientific data and implementing tooling to support/enforce it.
• Experience mentoring and working with staff from other disciplines in how to apply novel analysis methods to their work.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement AI/data science solutions to address complex national security problems, with a focus on nuclear nonproliferation, policy analysis, and disruptive technology assessment.
• Design and implement AI/data science solutions to address complex technical challenges, including all-source analysis, object detection, data fusion, and end-to-end data science workflows.
• Develop and evaluate predictive models and advanced algorithms to extract actionable value from structured and unstructured data.
• Apply machine learning, data modeling, and software engineering to integrate and clean data, quantify uncertainty, identify patterns, and generate insights from high-dimensional datasets.
• Deliver solutions driven by exploratory data analysis and rapid prototyping, with a focus on transition to operational use.

Skills

Stats vs ML judgment

Data management tooling

Cross-disciplinary mentoring

Education

BS/BA + 5+ yrs

MS/MA + 3+ yrs

PhD + 1+ yr

Job description

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is seeking a Data Scientist with expertise in AI to tackle mission-critical national security challenges. You will join an interdisciplinary team applying AI/ML to datasets, developing data-driven solutions, and transitioning research into field-ready capabilities.

You will collaborate with domain experts to align applied work with the sponsor priorities while mentoring junior staff and expanding the organization's data-driven impact.