Senior Data Scientist (Active Secret Clearance)

Striveworks; Tacoma (WA); Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Unlimited PTO

Paid parental leave

401(k)

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Striveworks in Tacoma, WA seeks a Senior Data Scientist to build and validate ML models and analytic algorithms across diverse data types, including image, video, and text. You will work on AI solutions for cloud and edge environments at Joint Base Lewis‑McChord and contribute to product direction.

You will collaborate with data scientists, ML engineers, software engineers, and DevOps, translating customer needs into actionable inputs for our teams.

Qualifications

• BS degree in computer science, machine learning, mathematics, or a related discipline with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Proficiency in machine learning and data science with demonstrated application to image, video, and/or text data.
• Proficiency in implementing and analyzing data structures and algorithms.
• Excellence in Python and knowledge of TensorFlow, PyTorch, and/or scikit‑learn.
• Exposure to software development life cycles and tools.
• Active Secret (or above) US security clearance and US citizenship.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate machine learning models and custom analytic algorithms across image, video, text, geospatial, time series, and structured data.
• Implement AI‑based software solutions for cloud and edge environments.
• Sense customer needs, identify evolving demands, and translate feedback into actionable input for product teams.
• Collaborate with data scientists, machine learning engineers, software engineers, and DevOps to deliver projects.

Skills

ML & data science proficiency

Python

Algorithms

Software development life cycle

US security clearance

Education

BS in CS/ML/Math or related

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

Tacoma, WA

“In 36 months, agentic AI systems will be an operating reality across major institutions. We intend to be central to it.” — Dr. Jim Rebesco, Cofounder and CEO, Striveworks

The government’s demand for AI is growing far faster than the systems required to support it. Fewer than 15% of federal AI programs have reached sustained production, despite billions of dollars invested. The models perform in testing, but they degrade in the real world. And when performance drops, trust goes with it.

Striveworks was built to solve that problem.

What you’ll build

Since 2018, we have delivered the most trusted AI systems operating in real-world use cases—providing a layer of assurance underneath hundreds of deployed models that monitors performance, manages drift, and sustains systems long after they leave the lab.

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will be a core contributor to the projects, products, and direction of the company. Working as part of a team of data scientists, machine learning engineers, software engineers, and DevOps engineers, you’ll develop and validate machine learning models and custom analytic algorithms applied to image, video, text, geospatial, time series, and structured data. You will also implement AI‑based software solutions for cloud and edge environments. You will sense what customers need, identify evolving demands, and translate that feedback into actionable input for our product teams. This role puts you directly at the customer site at Joint Base Lewis‑McChord in Tacoma, WA, conducting mission‑critical fieldwork.

What it’s like here

We lead with trust, treat each other with respect, and use candor consistently, kindly, and constructively. We care deeply about our work, and we find genuine satisfaction in doing it well. Above all, we take ownership—because we feel the weight of collective results personally. We are looking for people who share these values and are eager to put them into practice.

What we’re looking for

• A BS degree in computer science, machine learning, mathematics, or a related discipline and 6+ years of relevant experience
• Proficiency in machine learning and data science, with demonstrated application to image, video, and/or text data
• Proficiency in implementing and analyzing data structures and algorithms
• Excellence in Python and knowledge of TensorFlow, PyTorch, and/or scikit‑learn
• Exposure to software development life cycles and tools
• Active Secret (or above) US security clearance and US citizenship

The following isn’t required, but we’d love to see it:

• An advanced degree in computer science, machine learning, mathematics, or a related discipline
• Experience deploying machine learning and data science solutions to production environments
• Exposure to DevOps and Docker, K8s, CI/CD
• Experience building AI agents and agentic workflows
• Experience implementing ETL pipelines, data pipelines, and workflow automation
• Experience developing software in a compiled programming language
• Experience building full‑stack applications

You will be hybrid/on site at our customer locations at Joint Base Lewis‑McChord in Tacoma, WA. You will be expected to travel 25% of the time.

Compensation

The anticipated base pay range for this position is $185,000–$230,000/year. Striveworks’ total compensation package includes a competitive base salary, equity grants, and cash bonuses.

Benefits include:

• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Voluntary life, long‑term disability, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance
• HSA and FSA (including dependent care FSA) plans
• 401(k) plan
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid parental leave

Striveworks is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, belief, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity or expression), national origin, social or ethnic origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non‑merit factors. Striveworks will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.

If you require assistance or a reasonable accommodation in the application process, please contact People Operations at [e-mail].

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

Striveworks is a participating employer in the E‑Verify program.

Voluntary Self‑Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self‑identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Striveworks’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.

A “disabled veteran” is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three‑year period beginning on the date of such veteran’s discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

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