Principal Research Scientist

About the role

Peraton Labs is seeking a self-motivated Principal Research Scientist with a passion for developing solutions for problems in the field of cybersecurity across a variety of domains. You will lead or work with a team of research scientists to design, prototype, test, and demonstrate solutions to challenging research problems. Your work will involve defining research programs, developing innovative concepts and approaches to solving different problems in cybersecurity, and providing direction and vision for the team.

An important aspect of this position is the ability to clearly articulate research directions that will solve a broad range of customer problems by providing cutting-edge solutions. Peraton Labs performs basic, applied, and advanced research for a variety of customers. Your role will involve interacting with customers to understand their needs, pitching new ideas and presenting research results to new and existing customers, developing proposals that address customer needs, and providing leadership for executing research programs.

The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in the above tasks, along with the ability to delve deep into the relevant technologies and provide leadership in developing and delivering prototype solutions. An important component of Peraton Labs' work involves design and prototyping of software to prove out technical concepts; you should therefore have strong software development skills and be willing to learn new skills and technologies as needed to develop cutting-edge solutions based on customer needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead or collaborate with a team of research scientists to design, prototype, test, and demonstrate solutions to challenging research problems in cybersecurity.
• Define research programs and develop innovative concepts and approaches to address cybersecurity challenges.
• Provide direction and vision for the research team.
• Articulate research directions to solve customer problems with cutting-edge solutions.
• Interact with customers to understand their needs and pitch new ideas.
• Present research results to new and existing customers.
• Develop proposals addressing customer needs and provide leadership for executing research programs.
• Design and prototype software to validate technical concepts.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of experience with a PhD in Computer Science or related area.
• Strong research background and development experience in cybersecurity, networking, communications, hardware, or systems problems.
• Hands-on experience with relevant AI technologies, models, and tools, including state-of-the-art modeling techniques such as transformers, feature engineering, and development of deep neural networks with modern tools like PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Ability and desire to quickly acquire knowledge of new subject matter areas.
• Experience in technical marketing, business development, and writing winning proposals for R&D opportunities with DoD/IC/other Government customers (e.g., DARPA, IARPA, ARL, AFRL).
• Experience leading DARPA or similar projects as Principal Investigator.
• US Citizenship with the ability to obtain/maintain a Top Secret/SCI clearance.

Pay

Target salary range: $176,000 - $282,000. Salary is determined by various factors, including the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual's experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life insurance and health savings account (HSA).
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Parental leave.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation.
• Company-paid holidays.