Senior Principal Data Scientist / AI-ML SME (Analytic Superiority)

Via Logic LLC; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 154,050 - 278,475; Full time

Job summary

Leidos in Fort Meade, MD seeks an AI/ML Subject Matter Expert to serve as a Technical Closer on the CNMF/COSS 3.0 program. You will architect cross‑platform AI frameworks and mentor senior technologists, pushing production‑grade AI into multi‑cloud and air‑gapped mission enclaves.

Required: 15+ years in software/DS, 5+ years ML engineering, 3–5 years in the DoD/IC, and TS/SCI with Polygraph. On-site Fort Meade, MD.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of hands-on software/DS experience.
• 5+ years in ML engineering, deep learning, or LLM optimization.
• 3-5 years in the DoD/IC cyber ecosystem building vulnerability tools.
• Active TS/SCI with Polygraph.
• On-site at Fort Meade, MD in a SCIF environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect cross‑platform AI frameworks across cloud and air‑gapped environments.
• Mentor senior technologists and solve complex telecommunication challenges.
• Push production‑grade AI into multi‑cloud, hybrid and air‑gapped mission enclaves.
• Integrate AI/ML pipelines into high‑value data streams and mission platforms.

Education

Master's Degree or PhD in Data Science or related field

Tools

AWS SageMaker

Google Vertex AI

Azure Government

Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM/XSOAR

Apache Kafka

Spark

LangChain

Milvus

Qdrant

Pinecone

vLLM

bitsandbytes

NVIDIA TensorRT

Ray

TensorFlow

PyTorch

C/C++

Python

Go

Rust

Job description

Mission Overview

The Leidos Intel Sector is looking for a premier AI/ML Subject Matter Expert (SME) to serve as a Technical Closer for our COSS 3.0 program supporting USCYBERCOM and the Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) at Fort Meade, MD. In this elite role, you will architect and engineer the cross‑platform AI frameworks required to achieve absolute analytic superiority.

You will compress both defensive cyber operations (identifying network vulnerabilities and gaps) and offensive operations (vulnerability discovery and automated targeting) from days down to minutes. As a Technical Closer, you will mentor senior technologists by example-working "fingers-on-keyboard" to solve the command's most complex technical roadblocks and push production‑grade AI directly into multi‑cloud, hybrid, and air‑gapped mission enclaves.

Core Technical Requirements

• Platform‑Agnostic Infrastructure & MLOps: Architect, deploy, and scale distributed AI workloads across any environment required, including AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI, Azure Government, and bare‑metal, air‑gapped server racks.
• Agentic AI & Cyber Automation: Deploy and optimize tools like LangGraph, CrewAI, or AutoGPT to automate cyber threat identification and offensive target generation at wire speed.
• Low‑Level Model Engineering & Optimization: Fine‑tune open‑source large language models (e.g., Llama 3, Mistral) inside secure enclaves using PyTorch or TensorFlow. Utilize NVIDIA TensorRT, Triton Inference Server, vLLM, and quantization libraries (bitsandbytes) to compress models for high‑throughput execution under strict hardware constraints.
• Advanced RAG Architectures: Direct the engineering of enterprise Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) stacks using LangChain paired with high‑performance vector databases like Milvus, Qdrant, or Pinecone.
• Autonomous Cyber Integration: Connect intelligent agents directly into security orchestration platforms (e.g., Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM/XSOAR) to trigger automated network defense actions and ingest massive, real‑time PCAP and telemetry streams via Apache Kafka/Spark.
• Polyglot Engineering: Demonstrate engineering mastery in Python, Go, Rust, and C/C++ to build ultra‑fast cyber tools, write optimized GPU kernels, and interface with distributed frameworks like Ray.

Mission & Domain Expertise

• Dual‑Spectrum Operations: Proven capability to support both Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) (log parsing, behavioral threat hunting, anomaly detection) and Offensive Cyber Operations (OCO) (automated vulnerability discovery, exploit generation, payload optimization).
• Mission Platform Orchestration: Experience integrating custom AI/ML pipelines into unified mission systems and high‑value data streams found across Project Maven, Palantir Foundry, and tactical command frameworks.

Required Experience & Background

• Total Technical Experience: 15+ years of hands‑on experience in software engineering, data science, or distributed systems.
• Core AI/ML Focus: 5+ years of specialized experience in Machine Learning Engineering, deep learning, or LLM optimization.
• DoD/IC Ecosystem: 3-5 years working within the DoD/IC cyber ecosystem, specifically building tools that map vulnerabilities or accelerate targeting cycles.
• Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Polygraph.
• Work Location: On‑site at Fort Meade, MD (SCIF environment).

Preferred Certifications & Military Equivalency

• Industry Certifications: Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer, AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty, or NVIDIA Generative AI/LLM Associate.
• Cyber Mission Force (CMF) Equivalency: Prior certification as a CMF Exploitation Analyst (EA), Digital Network Analyst (DNA), or specialized technical experience as an Army 17A/170A, Navy 181X, or Air Force 17D/17S.

Educational Background

• Primary Requirement: Master's Degree or PhD in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field. Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.

Pay Range

Pay Range $154,050.00 - $278,475.00

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.