Senior AI Data Labeling Lead & Project Manager

The Pennsylvania State University; Ferguson Township (PA); On-site; USD 92,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition discount

Benefits package

Paid time off

Job summary

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University in State College, PA is seeking an experienced analyst to join the Research Artificial Intelligence Department. You will lead data labeling projects, mentor junior analysts, and ensure labeling quality across multiple data types to support machine learning research.

You will collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and researchers, develop labeling guidelines, and manage timelines while adhering to cybersecurity and governance

Qualifications

• Demonstrated data labeling/annotation expertise for ML projects.
• Experience leading teams including junior staff/interns.
• Data quality principles and inter-annotator agreement/audit workflows.
• Familiar with ML concepts and how labeled data supports training/evaluation.
• Defense/military research context and operational problems addressed.
• Existing professional network to share/transition research broadly.
• Experience supporting military/IC/federal customers in secure environments.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity and data-handling practices (NIST RMF).
• Strong communication and organizational skills in dynamic settings.
• Current TS/SCI eligibility or potential for clearance upgrade.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end data labeling projects with standards and thresholds.
• Perform labeling/annotation across data types with focus on quality.
• Mentor and coordinate junior analysts and interns, ensuring throughput.
• Develop labeling guidelines, taxonomies, and documentation.
• Implement quality control processes including audits and IA checks.
• Collaborate with data scientists/engineers to translate requirements into schemas.
• Track progress, report status, and escalate blockers or risks.
• Ensure data handling complies with cybersecurity and governance rules.
• Gain context of mission to improve labeling quality and prioritization.
• Support dissemination of research and engage with technical communities.
• Identify tool/process improvements to increase efficiency.

Skills

Data labeling

Team leadership

Quality control

ML concepts

Defense domain

Professional network

Security environment

Cybersecurity/NIST RMF

Communication skills

Clearance eligibility TS/SCI

Education

Bachelor's Degree + 6+ yrs experience

Bachelor's Degree + 3+ yrs experience

Job description

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University in State College, PA is seeking an experienced analyst to join the Research Artificial Intelligence Department. You will lead data labeling projects, mentor junior analysts, and ensure labeling quality across multiple data types to support machine learning research.

You will collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and researchers, develop labeling guidelines, and manage timelines while adhering to cybersecurity and governance