Technical SETA SME – Natural Language Processing (NLP)

US101 Guidehouse Inc.; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 113,000 - 188,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Mobility Stipend

Learning Opportunities

Job summary

Guidehouse in Bethesda, MD is seeking a Technical SETA with deep NLP expertise to support a government research program from development through transition. You will serve as SME on NLP, LLMs, and text analytics in high‑assurance environments.

The role requires active TS/SCI with polygraph, a PhD or Masters preferred, and 8+ years in physics, CS, or related fields. Salary range is $113k–$188k, with comprehensive benefits and opportunities to advance in national security projects.

Qualifications

• ACTIVE TS/SCI with polygraph is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, CS, or engineering.
• 8+ years of work experience in physics, mathematics, CS, or engineering.
• Experience with NLP pipelines and transformer architectures.
• Knowledge of AI/ML in data-intensive environments.
• Ability to develop and evaluate NLP pipelines and governance.

Responsibilities

• Provide SME in NLP, LLMs, and text analytics.
• Attend meetings, workshops, conferences, and testing events.
• Support lifecycle of a research program from development to transition.

Skills

NLP expertise

LLMs knowledge

AI governance

Text analytics

Data pipelines

Education

Bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, CS

Master’s or PhD (nice to have)

Tools

Hugging Face

PyTorch

TensorFlow

spaCy

Model fine-tuning

Job description

Job Family, Travel & Clearance

Job Family: Data Science & Analysis (ESA) Travel Required: Up to 10% Clearance Required: Active Top Secret SCI with Polygraph

What You Will Do

The Technical SETA will provide support in the execution of the lifecycle of a research program from development, source selection, execution, closeout, and transition. The Technical SETA will be responsible for attending meetings, workshops, conferences, and testing events as the Subject Matter Expert. In this role, the Technical SETA will serve as the Subject Matter Expert in Natural Language Processing (NLP), including large language models (LLMs), machine‑language understanding, text analytics, and AI‑driven language processing technologies.

What You Will Need

• An ACTIVE and MAINTAINED TS/SCI Federal or DoD security clearance with a polygraph
• Bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, computer science, or relevant engineering fields (electrical, computer, systems, software)
• EIGHT (8) or more years of work experience in physics, mathematics, computer science, or relevant engineering fields (electric, computer, systems, software)
• Experiences should include, but not be limited to: Systems engineering and integration experience in complex, data‑intensive environments
• Knowledge of AI/ML (computer vision, NLP, predictive analytics, LLMs)
• Demonstrated experience with NLP methodologies such as text classification, named entity recognition, topic modeling, information extraction, or transformer‑based architectures
• Experience developing or evaluating NLP pipelines, including text preprocessing, tokenization strategies, model training, fine‑tuning, and optimization for mission environments
• Understanding of data architectures and pipelines for large‑scale analytics/intelligence production
• Familiarity with AI governance, data quality, bias mitigation, and mission assurance in operational NLP/LLM deployments
• Experience creating program plans, work breakdown structures, and milestone schedules

What Would Be Nice To Have

• Master’s degree or PhD in physics, mathematics, computer science, or relevant engineering fields (electrical, computer, systems, software) with FOUR (4) or more years of work experience
• Experience in the Intelligence Community (IC), including requirements, CONOPS, and transition
• Experience managing a multi‑disciplinary R&D or T&E team
• Experience as a Project Manager or Deputy Project Manager
• Experience with NLP development tools or frameworks such as Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow, spaCy, or similar libraries
• Ability to proactively manage multiple, concurrent tasks
• Excellent writing, slide development, and editing skills, including the ability to develop succinct, comprehensive, and understandable documents using complex data from multiple sources for technical and non‑technical audiences
• Strong organizational, problem‑solving, and time‑management skills; detail oriented

Salary

The annual salary range for this position is $113,000.00-$188,000.00. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

What We Offer

Guidehouse offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and a flexible benefits package that reflects our commitment to creating a diverse and supportive workplace. Benefits include:

• Medical
• Rx
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays
• Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus
• Parental Leave and Adoption Assistance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Basic Life & Supplemental Life
• Health Savings Account
• Dental/Vision & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Student Loan PayDown Tuition Reimbursement
• Personal Development & Learning Opportunities
• Skills Development & Certifications
• Employee Referral Program
• Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach
• Emergency Back-Up Childcare Program
• Mobility Stipend

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer–Protected Veterans, Individuals with Disabilities or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation. Guidehouse will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law or ordinance including the Fair Chance Ordinance of Los Angeles and San Francisco. If you have visited our website for information about employment opportunities, or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Guidehouse Recruiting at 1-571-633-1711 or via email at [e-mail].

Guidehouse is a global AI‑led professional services firm delivering advisory, technology, and managed services to the commercial and government sectors. With an integrated business technology approach, Guidehouse drives efficiency and resilience in the healthcare, financial services, energy, infrastructure, and national security markets. Built to help clients across industries outwit complexity, the firm brings together approximately 18,000 professionals to achieve lasting impact and shape a meaningful future. guidehouse.com