Research Professorial Faculty Open Rank, AI Test and Evaluation

About the role

The Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI) is a national leader in advancing security and resilience through innovative and applied research, empowering the next generation of experts, and building strategic alliances to address evolving national security challenges. We bring together exceptional interdisciplinary faculty, unique research infrastructure, and deep partnerships with industry and government sponsors to execute impactful research and development.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and integration of AI Test & Evaluation research activities by translating mission needs and operational constraints into actionable evaluation strategies, technical approaches, and research plans; coordinating multidisciplinary teams; and addressing performance, uncertainty, trustworthiness, and system considerations in mission-relevant environments.
• Manage an interdisciplinary research portfolio supporting rapid development, prototyping, T&E, and transition of AI-enabled capabilities by establishing research priorities across multiple concurrent projects; aligning technical efforts with sponsor needs and institutional objectives; guiding proposal development; and contributing to sustainable growth of research programs aligned to national security priorities.
• Collaborate with government, academia, and industry partners by facilitating integration of technical efforts among rotating faculty experts, interdisciplinary researchers, and external collaborators; establishing effective teaming structures and workflows; and ensuring shared understanding of research objectives, evaluation approaches, and mission priorities across concurrent projects.
• Support sponsor engagement and research alignment activities by interacting with government partners to clarify mission needs and evaluation priorities; providing technical insight to inform research direction and execution approaches; and communicating research findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders to strengthen alignment between research outputs and mission outcomes.
• Contribute to workforce development through mentorship of students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career technical staff engaged in experiential learning activities; integrating students into interdisciplinary project teams; and supporting development of practical technical and professional skills aligned with rapid AI T&E and national security mission needs.

Requirements

• Doctoral degree in engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics, operations research, or related technical discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in AI, ML, or data-driven systems.
• Demonstrated experience in test & evaluation, experimentation, validation, verification, or performance assessment of complex systems.
• Experience leading or coordinating interdisciplinary technical teams.
• Experience contributing to externally sponsored research programs.
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts into mission-relevant research approaches.
• Strong communication skills.
• US citizenship and active secret clearance.

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics, operations research, or related technical discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in AI, ML, or data-driven systems.
• Demonstrated experience in test & evaluation, experimentation, validation, verification, or performance assessment of complex systems.
• Experience leading or coordinating interdisciplinary technical teams.
• Experience contributing to externally sponsored research programs.
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts into mission-relevant research approaches.
• Strong communication skills.
• US citizenship and active secret clearance.

Skills

• Experience evaluating AI-enabled systems in operational or mission-relevant environments.
• Experience serving as PI or co-PI on externally sponsored research programs.
• Experience working across government, academia, and industry research environments.
• Experience in mission engineering, digital engineering, modeling and simulation, or systems engineering.
• Experience supporting rapid prototyping or iterative capability development environments.
• Experience mentoring interdisciplinary research teams.
• Experience developing research proposals and establishing sponsor partnerships.

Benefits

Salary commensurate with experience.

Pay

Salary commensurate with experience.

Schedule

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime.