Data Scientist - Field Robotics and AI

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Sequim, WA

About The Position

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget. Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus. The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management. The Coastal Sciences Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, is headquartered at PNNL-Sequim, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Our unique facility is the Department of Energy’s only marine research laboratory, and the capabilities of its researchers deliver science and technology critical to the nation’s energy, environmental, and security future. We focus on research related to marine and coastal resources, environmental chemistry, water resources modeling, marine engineering, environmental modeling and monitoring, and national security—the division is an emerging leader in three areas: Enabling sustainable development of ocean energy Understanding and mitigating long-term impacts of human activities, including climate change, on marine resources Protecting coastal environments from security threats. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Coastal Sciences Division (CSD) is seeking a mid-career data scientist to work alongside its existing, close-knit, multi-disciplinary team to help continue to execute and grow its burgeoning portfolio in field robotics, sensing, and AI. Innovation in the marine domain requires input from more than just marine scientists. Increasingly it requires roboticists, computer scientists, and ML engineers who can work along marine scientists and oceanographers to identify approaches to observe and understand the natural world using the latest and greatest of robotic, sensing, AI, and communication technologies. This role seeks to add an experienced researcher to the existing robotics, software, and AI team within Coastal Sciences. We seek a professionally trained and experienced roboticist, computer scientist, or ML engineer with significant history executing and leading work in those spaces in academic or research roles, with experience in and love for the maritime domain, and an ability to communicate the complex technologies you’ve mastered to colleagues, sponsors, and collaborators from other domains. When the situation demands it, the ideal candidate can also work with hardware either in the lab or in a rocking boat. Successful candidates must also demonstrate the ability to navigate complex organizational or proposal processes, and teach colleagues. The Coastal Sciences team at PNNL Sequim is small, close-knit, collegial, academically diverse, and comprised of around 80 researchers working in fields from marine autonomy to algal biofuels. As a national lab, we work on research problems for a diverse sponsor set, for whom we seek to produce solutions to the greatest problems of our age. The specific work we do depends on the intersection of interests of our proposal-writing researchers and willing sponsors, and there is significant room to tailor work and responsibilities to research interests. The right candidate: Is excited to be a part of a close-knit and interdisciplinary team, and to represent and share their unique domain expertise as part of it. Is an adaptive generalist, with a deep background in software engineering, robotics, and machine learning, who has strong communication skills, and a teaching spirit. Is excited to work in the maritime domain, support marine deployments, and work alongside colleagues both in office and in the field. Is driven to identify and pursue novel science questions and share the results of research with the broader community. Can handle working on multiple projects simultaneously, navigate complex organizational processes, and maintain long-term vision despite short-term ambiguity.

Requirements

BS/BA and 2 years of relevant experience -OR-
MS/MA -OR-
PhD
U.S. Citizenship
Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the applicant selected for hire is subject to pre-employment drug testing, and post-employment random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).
Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy if non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months cannot be demonstrated.
Please be aware that the Department of Energy (DOE) prohibits DOE employees and contractors from having any affiliation with the foreign government of a country DOE has identified as a “country of risk” without explicit approval by DOE and Battelle. If you are offered a position at PNNL and currently have any affiliation with the government of one of these countries, you will be required to disclose this information and recuse yourself of that affiliation or receive approval from DOE and Battelle prior to your first day of employment.

Nice To Haves

A graduate degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical/Computer Engineering OR significant experience illustrating an ability to perform and lead research in robotics, software engineering, and deep learning without an applicable degree
Proven software development experience in professional and research settings within large, multi-developer code bases
A track record of object-oriented programming experience in Python, C/C++, and/or Rust
A deep knowledge of and demonstrated comfort with Linux computer systems and the ability to setup and configure them
Familiarity with common sensor hardware, communication protocols, and networking systems
Experience with PyTorch, Tensorflow, or another auto-grad library, a clear understanding of the fundamentals of machine learning and deep learning, and experience applying cutting-edge deep learning models to real world data
Knowledge of common statistical methods, probability theory, graduate-level linear algebra, and control theory
Significant experience creating, developing within, and deploying containerized software environments using tools such as Docker, Podman, or other containerization engines
Significant experience configuring and using modern dev-ops tools and pipelines
Experience designing, building, and programming robotic systems
Research experience culminating in publications, talks, or other technical products
Experience with ROS2, Gazebo, and Isaac Sim
Experience in marine or field robotics and a familiarity with common robotics platforms in these domains
Experience with embedded systems, micro-controllers, single-board computers, sensor integration, and SWAP-constrained systems
Experience with common marine sensors and the oceanographic properties they measure
Experience with IoT protocols and systems
Experience working with government sponsors, within soft-money research, and writing proposals
Experience deploying technologies in and operating within in the maritime domain
Interest in natural systems and wildlife behavior and tracking
Interest and ability to work in the field and on boats

Responsibilities

Designs, develops, and implements methods, processes, and systems to analyze diverse data.
Applies knowledge of statistics, machine learning, advanced mathematics, simulation, software development, and data modeling to integrate and clean data, recognize patterns, address uncertainty, pose questions, and make discoveries from structured and/or unstructured data.
Produces solutions driven by exploratory data analysis from complex and high-dimensional datasets.
Designs, develops, and evaluates predictive models and advanced algorithms that lead to optimal value extraction from the data.
Demonstrates ability to transfer skills across application domains.
Onboard marine robotic autonomy and data processing software stack development for in-house autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), autonomous underwater vessels (AUVs), and autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs).
Real-time multi-sensor sensor array, networking, interfacing, and data processing development for video, acoustic, and other novel sensor array systems.
Deep learning and AI-based detection, tracking, and reasoning on diverse marine and field sensors streams.
The development of robust, communication pipelines both on-prem, in-field, as well as to cloud.
Design, configuration, and management of heterogenous clusters of computing resources for various lab and deployment needs.

Benefits

Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support.
Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match.
Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

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