Data Scientist 2 - Computer Vision

Overview
Protecting U.S. residents and visitors is among our nation’s highest priorities. As adversaries gain access to sophisticated technologies and materials, the threats grow more dynamic and complex—from cyber and nuclear to chemical and biological weapons of mass effect and other forms of terrorism. The PNNL national security mission employs our researchers, tools, and technologies to play a key role in advancing the ability to identify and secure nuclear materials, detect weapons of mass effect, manage nonproliferation treaties, secure our nation's borders, and protect critical infrastructures. PNNL’s scientific discovery and capabilities—rooted in innovative theory, methods, algorithms, and tools—are enabling stronger, more resilient technologies and systems to safeguard national security. Coupled with decades of radiological and nuclear materials expertise, advanced computing and threat analysis capabilities, and a broad fundamental science base, we are identifying and countering emerging threats that have significant impact at home and around the globe.
The Position
Do you want to create a legacy of meaningful research for the greater good? Do you want to lead and contribute to work in support of an organization that addresses some of today’s most challenging problems that face our Nation? Do you want to work with engaging and collaborative teams? Then join us in the Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics Division at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Data Scientist in the Geospatial & ISR Solutions Team. Our team focuses on integrating state-of-the-art computer vision solutions to solve challenging National Security problems.
For more than 50 years, PNNL has advanced the frontiers of science and engineering in the service of our nation and the world in the areas of energy, the environment, and national security. PNNL’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics Division, part of the National Security Directorate, is committed to advancing the state of the art in artificial intelligence through applied machine learning and deep learning to support scientific discovery and our sponsors’ missions.
National Interest Project Examples

• Detect and prevent smuggling of drugs and contraband at ports of entry [Link]
• Applying image classification for nuclear forensics analysis [Link]
• Applying big data solutions to national security problems [Link]
• Analyze the resiliency of the electric power grid to prevent large-scale outages [Link]
• Detect and respond to advanced cyber threats with at-edge computing [Link]
• Hunt for the existence of dark matter to understand the nature of the universe [Link]
• Use remotely sensed imagery to identify and monitor the progression of wildfires [Link]
• Develop capabilities for scalable geospatial analytics [Link]
• Model climate change and impacts to civilization [Link]
• Develop large data pipelines to thwart funding for terrorists, nuclear proliferators, drug cartels, and rogue leaders [Link]
• Optimize building efficiency using IOT and ICS data with automated demand-response markets [Link]

How We Work

• Diverse and flexible projects – Flexibility to choose and move between projects
• Team Compositions – Our teams include data scientists, domain scientists and engineers, users, and a range of engineering talent from cloud and machine learning engineers to front-end dev
• Locations – Seattle, WA; Richland, WA
• Team Sizes – Typically around 5-10 members, although projects can be more than 100 or just a few members
• Partners – Work with government, academic, industry, and other partners to solve problems

Responsibilities
Designs, develops, and implements methods, processes, and systems to analyze diverse data. Applies knowledge of statistics, machine learning, advanced mathematics, simulation, software development, and data modeling to integrate and clean data, recognize patterns, address uncertainty, pose questions, and make discoveries from structured and/or unstructured data. Produces solutions driven by exploratory data analysis from complex and high-dimensional datasets. Designs, develops, and evaluates predictive models and advanced algorithms that lead to optimal value extraction from the data. Demonstrates ability to transfer skills across application domains.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:

• MS/MA -OR-
• BS/BA and 2 years of relevant experience -OR-
• PhD

Preferred Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience with computer vision in academia or industry
• 3+ years of experience with general purpose programming language (Python, Scala, Java, C, C++, etc.)
• Experience applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to computer vision. Additional domain application is preferred – geospatial intelligence, few-shot/zero-shot learning.
• 3+ years in machine learning or applied science/research in academia or industry
• Active Federal Q Clearance and ability to maintain such clearance
• Experience developing, training, and testing machine learning models in frameworks like PyTorch
• Ability to contribute knowledge to the academic and research strength of PNNL and have experience writing scientific publications demonstrating their insight and discovery (e.g., publication in conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, KDD, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ACL, ICWSM, EMNLP, NAACL, EACL, COLING, and SIGIR is preferred)

Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment
Not applicable.
Additional Information
This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
Requirements

• Drug Testing: All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the candidate selected is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).
• Background Investigation: Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
• U.S. Citizenship

Note: Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy until non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months can be demonstrated.
Testing Designated Position
This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.
About PNNL
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven people come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!
At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, flexible work schedules and telework options. PNNL is located in eastern Washington State—the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living. The Lab’s campus is only a 45-minute flight (or ~3-hour drive) from Seattle or Portland, and is serviced by the convenient PSC airport, connected to 8 major hubs.
Commitment to Excellence, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Opportunity
Our laboratory is committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment dedicated to solving critical challenges in fundamental sciences, national security, and energy resiliency. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. In support of this commitment, we encourage people of all racial/ethnic identities, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities to apply for employment.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), protected veteran status, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local laws.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures and in employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, contact us at [email protected].
Drug Free Workplace
PNNL is committed to a drug-free workplace supported by Workplace Substance Abuse Program (WSAP) and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs.
If you are offered employment at PNNL, you must pass a drug test prior to commencing employment. PNNL complies with federal law regarding illegal drug use. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you test positive for any illegal controlled substance, including marijuana, your offer of employment will be withdrawn.
Mandatory Requirements
Please be aware that the Department of Energy (DOE) prohibits DOE employees and contractors from having any affiliation with the foreign government of a country DOE has identified as a “country of risk” without explicit approval by DOE and Battelle. If you are offered a position at PNNL and currently have any affiliation with the government of one of these countries, you will be required to disclose this information and recuse yourself of that affiliation or receive approval from DOE and Battelle prior to your first day of employment.
Rockstar Rewards
Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, supplemental parental bonding leave**, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company funded pension plan* and may enroll in our 401k savings plan. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

• Once eligibility requirements are met.
• Research Associates excluded.

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