Chief Scientist - Artificial Intelligence Research

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory • Laurel, MD

73d • $102,500 - $290,000

About The Position

Are you a senior AI researcher with a burning desire to serve a bigger purpose? Are you motivated by challenges facing our nation's security and prosperity? Does the challenge of pioneering AI research with mission intent excite you? If so, we're looking for someone like you to be the Chief Scientist for the Artificial Intelligence Group at JHU/APL! Our team works at the intersection of AI research and national defense, tackling problems that few other institutions are trusted to solve. Some examples of our current work include: Improving alignment of AI agents used in human-machine teaming and wargaming, Training multimodal foundation models on language and sensor data, Intelligent robots that use agentic AI to perform complex tasks in a self-directed way, Assessing, mitigating, and exploiting vulnerabilities of frontier models, Mission-driven test and evaluation (T&E) of novel research. As Chief Scientist, you will be recognized as a thought leader while serving as a steward of APL's AI research strategy - ensuring the success of the group as much as your own. In close partnership with the Group Supervisor, you'll help shape the future of our research by managing the group's Independent Research and Development (IRAD) portfolio, ensuring projects led by early- and mid-career staff are of the highest quality and aligned with national priorities. While our IRAD process is competitive, this role provides opportunities to carve out resources for your own initiatives where they advance APL's strategic goals. Beyond managing research, you'll represent APL in the AI community by publishing, presenting, and collaborating with peers across academia, industry, and government. Your role as a connector and collaborator will help ensure that APL's contributions to AI research remain innovative, mission-relevant, and widely recognized. In this role, your influence will come not only from advancing your own research but from amplifying the success of the group - mentoring colleagues, elevating their work, and ensuring that our collective research is rigorous, trustworthy, and consequential. You will be a steward of the group's success, balancing your own technical contributions with the responsibility of advancing the research of others. You will also guide proposals to government sponsors, safeguard the technical rigor of our work, and help translate research into real-world applications at national scale. At its heart, this position is about bridging cutting-edge AI with mission-critical problems - advancing the state of the art while directly contributing to our nation's security and resilience.

Requirements

• PhD in a field related to AI.
• 10+ years of experience in AI research and development.
• Proficient in Python programming with experience using PyTorch and/or Jax, including Hugging Face libraries.
• Strong record of peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals and/or conferences.
• Experience writing and winning proposals for research funding.
• Successfully led a research agenda for a team.
• Able to obtain an Interim Top Secret level security clearance by start date.

Nice To Haves

• Skilled at mentoring and developing early-career researchers.
• Communicate research clearly to both expert and non-expert audiences.
• Effective at communicating research findings to non-expert audiences.
• Enjoy mentoring promising early-career researchers.
• Formal experience in project management or technical supervision.
• Worked in government labs, research agencies, or frontier AI companies.
• Already hold a Top Secret/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Manage the group's Independent Research and Development (IRAD) portfolio.
• Ensure projects led by early- and mid-career staff are of the highest quality and aligned with national priorities.
• Represent APL in the AI community by publishing, presenting, and collaborating with peers across academia, industry, and government.
• Mentor colleagues and elevate their work.
• Guide proposals to government sponsors.
• Safeguard the technical rigor of the group's work.
• Translate research into real-world applications at national scale.

Benefits

• Generous benefits including a robust education assistance program.
• Unparalleled retirement contributions.
• Healthy work/life balance.
• Comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees