Research Data Analyst

About the role

The Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI), founded on the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology, operates in Blacksburg and the Washington, D.C. metro area. Its Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) conducts interdisciplinary research in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence; cybersecurity and complex systems engineering; and complex system validation, test, and evaluation. ISD brings together researchers from computer science, statistics, data science, machine learning, networks, signal processing, systems engineering, human factors, and other fields to develop solutions for critical national security challenges. This beginning research position supports rapid growth in ISD and involves team‑based research, proposal development, and presentation of results to sponsors and academic communities.

Responsibilities

• Perform exploratory data analysis, report summary statistics, and visualize data.
• Conduct literature reviews for relevant research areas.
• Design numerical experiments.
• Train and test AI/ML models.
• Compile and summarize AI/ML model testing results.
• Perform statistical analysis of data and test results.
• Work as part of team‑based research efforts, support development of research proposals, and assist in documentation and presentation of research results to sponsors and academic communities.

Required Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• Earned Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computational modeling and data analytics, data science, applied mathematics, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to work as a member of a team in executing research projects.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active security clearance.
• Interest and/or experience working effectively with an interdisciplinary team.
• Experience working in an academic environment.
• Experience executing research and/or development programs supporting the federal government.

Skills & Tools

• Familiarity with statistics and AI/ML concepts such as design of experiments, time series analysis, anomaly detection, natural language processing, large‑scale data infrastructure, or test and evaluation (T&E).
• Proficiency with programming languages and tools: R, Python, Matlab, JMP, Jupyter Notebooks.

Pay

$90,000 – $110,000 annually, commensurate with experience.

Schedule

Full‑time, 40 hours per week.

Additional Information

• Due to the nature of the work, the successful candidate must be a U.S. citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• A criminal conviction check is required.

Position is overtime‑exempt (not eligible for overtime), appointment type is restricted, and the review date is October 30, 2026.