Senior Data Scientist

About the role

MITRE's Data Science and Engineering department is looking for qualified applicants to bring their advanced data science, data engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and applied research skills to bear on solving problems of critical national importance. MITRE's diverse work program provides opportunities to apply your expertise and creative thinking in challenging domains such as national security, intelligence, transportation, and healthcare. Employees may also participate in MITRE's internal research and development program, which provides funding for innovative applied research that addresses our sponsors' hardest problems.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly prototypes and evaluates Data Science, Data Engineering, and AI/ML approaches to assess feasibility and support project needs.
• Leads simple projects or has accountability for tasks on a complex project; plans and guides the work of others.
• When in a contributor role, works independently and requires minimal instruction, guidance, and direction.
• Identifies and solves complex problems; takes new perspectives on existing solutions; exercises judgment within the Data Science and Data Engineering disciplines.
• Leverages advanced knowledge of Data Science and Data Engineering and shares that knowledge with others.
• Communicates complex results, both in writing and verbally, to technical and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or related field with 5 years of relevant experience.
• Hands-on proficiency with advanced Data Science techniques, including Machine Learning (e.g., supervised, unsupervised, deep learning, reinforcement learning), anomaly detection, statistical analysis, and/or analysis of very large datasets.
• Computer programming skills (e.g., Python, R, C/C++, Java, Scala, Julia, Rust, MATLAB).
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position requires a minimum of 3 days per week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or related field with 3 years of relevant experience; PhD in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or related field.
• Active DoD Top Secret Clearance.

Skills

Advanced Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence:

• Machine Learning and Model Evaluation (e.g., supervised, unsupervised, deep learning, reinforcement learning)
• Statistical Analysis and Exploratory Data Analysis (e.g., descriptive statistics, regression, visualization)
• Large Language Models and AI-Assisted Workflows
• Natural Language Processing (e.g., summarization, classification, entity recognition, topic modeling)
• Anomaly Detection and Predictive Modeling
• Graph Analytics (e.g. centrality, similarity, link prediction)

Data Engineering:

• Distributed Data Processing and Big Data Architectures (e.g., Spark, Hadoop, Ray, Dask, Kafka)
• Data Pipeline/ETL Development and Orchestration (e.g., Airflow, Dagster, NiFi)
• Batch and Streaming Data Processing
• Data Modeling, Schema Design, and Data Quality Assessment
• Data Governance, Access Controls, and Secure Data Handling
• Cloud-based Data Platforms and Storage Architectures

Software Development and MLOps:

• Computer Programming and Databases – Proficiency in Python and SQL required
• Software Engineering Best Practices (e.g., version control, testing, modular design)
• MLOps and Model Operationalization (e.g., model deployment, monitoring, reproducibility, containerization)
• Linux-based Development Environments, Git, Containers, and Cloud Platforms

Pay

Salary compensation range: $124,400 - $155,500 - $186,600 Annual