AL/ML Programmer

Job Description

The AI Technology and Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory seeks applicants who can contribute to projects addressing a wide range of national needs in AI and ML. Assignments may include:

• Research on state-of-the-art algorithms in signal processing, natural language processing, graph analytics, and adversarial AI.
• Applying innovative methods to challenging, real-world problems.
• Working in a collaborative, team-oriented development environment.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in electrical engineering, computer science, or another relevant discipline, or a Masters and 5 + years of relevant experience will be considered.

Desired Skills

• Knowledge of artificial intelligence, ideally with applications to multimedia, cyber security or adversarial machine learning / AI security experience.
• Deep AI/ML experience – graduate-level (or professional) knowledge of state-of-the-art machine-learning, deep-learning, LLM/agentic AI, multimodal perception, differentiable modeling and simulation packages, graph analytics, adversarial/AI-assurance, or cyber-ML; ability to read, critique, and extend advanced research papers.
• System analysis & problem decomposition – can translate high-level end-state requirements into a clear set of research tasks, define quantitative success metrics and measures, and produce a task-breakdown structure that aligns with program/project milestones. Adept at formulating hypothesis, designing controlled experiments, and drawing data-driven conclusions on novel problems.
• Operate within a rapid research-to-prototype pipeline – demonstrable ability to turn novel algorithms and approaches into robust, reproduceable prototypes in tight timescales, around iterative refinement.
• Advanced Python & ML libraries – expert-level proficiency in Python and deep-learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.), plus Huggingface ecosystem, and data science frameworks (NumPy/pandas/SciPy, etc.).
• Software-engineering best practices – strong Git workflow (branching, pull-requests, code reviews), continuous-integration testing, environment reproducibility (e.g., conda, virtualenv). Ability to document code, write reproducible experiment notebooks, and maintain versioned releases.
• Team and Project leadership – experience leading small research teams, assigning tasks, tracking progress, removing technical blockers, and mentoring junior staff.
• Stakeholder communication – strong written and oral skills for prepping technical briefings, composing white-papers, demo presentations, and funding proposals; able to convey complex research outcomes to sponsors, senior leadership, and external partners.
• Detail-oriented, able to multi-task, with the ability to work autonomously, set technical direction, and operate with minimal supervision.
• Must have, or the ability to obtain a full scope Top Secret Clearance.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
• MIT-funded pension
• Matching 401K
• Paid leave (including vacation, sick, parental, military, etc.)
• Tuition reimbursement and continuing education programs
• Mentorship programs
• A range of work-life balance options

Disclaimer

This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits. At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, we provide many outstanding benefits to help you stay healthy, feel supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work-life balance. For more information, please visit our Benefits page. As an employee of MIT, you can also take advantage of other voluntary benefits, discounts, and perks.

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.