Senior Prototyping Engineer

Nyla Technology Solutions; Maryland; On-site; USD 203,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Nyla FLEX program

Top compensation package

Professional development funds

Job summary

Nyla Technology Solutions seeks a Senior Data Scientist & Technical Lead to transform massive raw datasets into automated intelligence for U.S. Government programs. You will architect and tune ML/graph algorithms, evaluate with rigorous metrics, and scale prototypes into production systems.

Active TS/SCI polygraph clearance is required. Salary range is $203,000–$240,000 USD with discretionary bonuses and comprehensive benefits. Columbia, MD based with national security mission impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field with 10+ years software engineering experience OR Master’s with 8+ years experience OR high school +14 years of hands-on software development experience.

Responsibilities

• Bridge gap between SME insights and quantitative execution to deliver actionable intelligence.
• Architect, prototype, and tune advanced ML and graph‑based algorithms.
• Lead a data science team, define analytic roadmaps, and mentor members.

Skills

Algorithm design

SME collaboration

Prototype to production

Validation metrics

Data visualization

Technical leadership

Python

R

SAS

MATLAB

Education

Bachelor’s in CS/CE/SE

Master’s in CS/Engineering

High school +14 yrs experience

Tools

SQL

Cloud platforms

Python tooling

Job description

Job Description

ACTIVE SECURITY CLEARANCE AT THE TS/SCI POLYGRAPH LEVEL IS REQUIRED

We are seeking an inventive, mission-driven Senior Data Scientist & Technical Lead to transform massive, raw datasets into automated, actionable intelligence. In this high-impact role, you will bridge the gap between qualitative subject matter expertise and cutting‑edge quantitative execution. You will architect, prototype, and tune advanced statistical, machine learning, and graph‑based algorithms, evaluate performance with rigorous metrics, and partner directly with software and cloud engineers to scale prototypes into resilient production systems. Beyond algorithm design, you will serve as a technical leader—guiding a team of data scientists, defining analytic roadmaps, and incorporating emerging state‑of‑the‑art machine learning techniques to power mission automation. If you thrive on solving complex data puzzles, leading technical teams, and bringing your authentic self to high‑stakes defense tech, Team Nyla wants you on board!

The annual base salary range for this role is $203,000-$240,000 (USD) , which does not include discretionary bonus compensation or our comprehensive benefits package. Actual compensation offered to the successful candidate may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, and/or skill level, among other things.

Required Skills

• Advanced Algorithm Development: Proven track record of designing, implementing, and tuning statistical, machine learning, data mining, heuristic, and graph‑based algorithms using Python, R, SAS, or MATLAB.
• SME Collaboration & Feature Engineering: Demonstrated ability to partner with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to extract critical insights from raw data (e.g., SQL tables, network logs, structured metadata) and formulate high‑impact feature vectors.
• Prototype-to-Production Transition: Hands‑on experience translating qualitative user workflows into quantitative mathematical formulations and partnering with cloud/software engineers to deploy scalable analytics into analyst workflows.
• Rigorous Validation & Metrics: Expertise in validating model performance using standard evaluation metrics and statistical techniques (e.g., cross‑validation, ROC curves, confusion matrices).
• Data Visualization & Insight Delivery: Ability to design intuitive visualizations and generate clear reports that summarize complex dataset structures and deliver data‑driven recommendations.
• Technical Leadership & Strategy: Proven capacity to guide data science teams, oversee multiple concurrent analytic efforts, delegate tasks, and mentor team members in modern analytic development practices.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline, PLUS 10+ years of professional software engineering experience OR Master’s Degree PLUS 8+ years of professional software engineering experience OR High School Diploma / GED, PLUS 14+ years of hands‑on technical software development experience in lieu of a degree.

Desired Skills

• Data Simulation & Synthetic Generation: Experience developing experimental data collection frameworks or simulation models to generate training sets when real‑world data is sparse or unavailable.
• Graph & Pattern Recognition Analytics: Familiarity with state‑of‑the‑art graph algorithms, pattern recognition frameworks, and deep learning architectures.
• Scalable Cloud Integration: Hands‑on experience integrating data science models into distributed, cloud‑native frameworks designed to scale across massive enterprise datasets.

About Nyla Technology Solutions

Nyla Technology Solutions delivers exceptional Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, and Software Engineering services for the U.S. Government. Nyla embraces a forward‑thinking and bold approach at every turn, earning us a solid reputation of technical trendsetters within the industry. We have a passion for developing solutions that have a quick and immediate impact on mission. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, our customers love how we tackle their most challenging problems and get things done.

Taking Care of All of You

Nyla provides a top‑of‑market compensation and benefits package. And through our unique Nyla FLEX program, we custom tailor these benefits to best fit your lifestyle.

The Nyla FLEX benefit program is designed to offer you flexibility in the 3 biggest areas of your life: your pay, your leave, and your schedule.

PAY - Nyla starts with 4 weeks of Annual Leave plus 11 holidays and an additional day of Annual Leave for each year you’re at the company. You have the flexibility to cash out your annual leave hours, opt out of other Nyla benefits, and/or arrange for additional hours on contract* (over 40 hrs/week). There’s even an option to earn 1.3 times your hourly rate once you work over 1880 hours on contract!

LEAVE - Want to spend more time with the family? Want more time to travel the world? You can BUY additional annual leave for a total of 6 weeks of annual leave. That’s up to 240 hours of leave plus 11 holidays! That’s not even including paid anniversary leave!

SCHEDULE - Does the traditional 40‑hour workweek no longer fit your lifestyle? With Nyla FLEX, you have the freedom to scale down to 30‑32 hours while still enjoying the top‑notch Nyla benefits you know and love. It's flexibility that works for you without compromising the perks!

WHAT ABOUT OTHER BENEFITS? Nyla’s health care (medical, dental, and vision) is 100% covered by the company. We provide 10% 401k matching - with full vesting day 1! Our Professional Development offers $5,000 per year to be used towards fees, tuition, or time off for your continued growth. We even have a student loan repayment program and we provide 8 hours of volunteering annually so you can support your community, making your world a better place.

To learn more about Nyla's culture and our exceptional benefit packages click here.

Nyla is an equal opportunity employer.