Senior AI/ML Research Scientist — Underwater Acoustics

Peraton; Mississippi; On-site; USD 104,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Life and disability insurance

401(k) and PTO

Job summary

Peraton is seeking an AI/ML Research Scientist to work onsite at the Stennis Space Center to conduct basic and applied research in machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, large language models, and physics-based machine learning.

The role focuses on underwater acoustics and acoustic propagation, developing rapid ML surrogate models for full-physics simulations while maintaining fidelity for decision-support tasks.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years with BS/BA; Minimum 6 years with MS/MA; Minimum 3 years with PhD.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• U.S. citizenship.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, technical communication, and quantitative research skills.
• Demonstrated experience applying machine-learning or deep-learning methods to scientific, engineering, physics-based, or computational modeling problems.
• Experience developing, training, testing, and evaluating machine-learning models using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX.
• Knowledge of core ML concepts including neural-network optimization, regularization, representation learning, generative modeling, data management, model evaluation, and reproducible experimentation.
• Ability to formulate research problems, design controlled experiments, analyze results, identify model limitations, and communicate defensible technical conclusions.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary technical teams and operational stakeholders.
• Ability to develop and maintain reproducible research software and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with acousticians, physicists, engineers, materials scientists, computer scientists, and other experts to develop ML approaches for complex problems.
• Conduct research in deep learning, generative AI, large language models, and scientific ML to support acoustic and physics-based applications.
• Develop physics-informed neural networks, neural operators, surrogate models, and hybrid physics-ML approaches.
• Design and execute controlled experiments to train, test, and evaluate ML models.
• Assess model accuracy, robustness, reliability, physics-consistency, and generalization.
• Develop surrogate models and accelerated methods that preserve fidelity while reducing compute costs.
• Translate physics/engineering requirements into ML workflows and evaluation protocols.
• Maintain reproducible research software and documentation; communicate conclusions through reports and presentations.

Skills

Analytical problem solving

ML/DL methods

Python (PyTorch/TensorFlow/JAX)

Independent work with multi‑discipline

Reproducible research practices

Education

BS/BA with 8+ years experience

MS/MA with 6+ years experience

PhD with 3+ years experience

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

Job description

Peraton is seeking an AI/ML Research Scientist to work onsite at the Stennis Space Center to conduct basic and applied research in machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, large language models, and physics-based machine learning.

The role focuses on underwater acoustics and acoustic propagation, developing rapid ML surrogate models for full-physics simulations while maintaining fidelity for decision-support tasks.