Early Career Software Engineer

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Richland, WA

20h•Onsite

About The Position

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is seeking an Early Career Software Engineer to join its Software Engineering and Architectures (SEA) team within the AI and Data Analytics Division of the National Security Directorate. The division combines domain expertise with advanced hardware and software to address complex data and analytics challenges across the data analytics lifecycle, from data acquisition and management to analysis and decision support. The engineer will collaborate with experienced engineers and research scientists to design, build, and optimize scalable systems for processing multimodal intelligence data. The position offers hands-on development in AI/ML engineering, data orchestration, and system architecture, with opportunities to contribute to mission-critical AI systems, enterprise-scale data platforms, and production systems supporting national security and intelligence missions. Work may involve AI applications using agents and large language models, intelligence platforms integrating multiple sources and supporting geospatial analysis, and cloud-native data pipelines and analytics workflows. The position is located in Richland, Washington, and requires onsite presence Monday through Thursday, with Friday onsite as required by business needs. The selected candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance and meet the stated citizenship and background-investigation requirements.

Requirements

Completed BS/BA or higher in computer science or software engineering.
Hands-on experience building and delivering software applications using Python through professional, internship, academic, or personal projects.
U.S. citizenship.
Ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance and meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter.
For security clearance processing, demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the required Questionnaire for National Security Positions.
Ability to undergo pre-employment and random drug testing.

Nice To Haves

Experience programming in Python, Go, Rust, C#/.NET, C++, or similar languages.
Understanding of software engineering and data management best practices.
Strong communication and collaborative skills for working effectively with cross-functional teams.
Exposure to a cloud platform such as AWS, Azure, or GCP and familiarity with Linux environments.
Understanding of Git and version control, exposure to CI/CD practices, and familiarity with Agile or Scrum development environments.
Experience writing SQL and a basic understanding of data modeling, data processing, or data pipeline concepts.
Familiarity with AI coding tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, or GitHub Copilot, and sound judgment when using them to explore code, improve tests, troubleshoot, and accelerate development.
Interest in AI/ML, geospatial systems, large-scale data processing, and learning new technologies and domains.

Responsibilities

Help develop applications that use AI agents and large language models, including LLM integration, evaluation, testing, and foundational MLOps practices.
Contribute to software that combines multiple sources of intelligence and supports geospatial analysis and understanding of complex information.
Build and maintain data pipelines and develop analytics workflows for cloud-native systems that process and manage data at scale.
Participate in code reviews and design discussions with experienced engineers and research scientists.
Develop skills in testing, debugging, documentation, and enterprise software development.
Learn to design, build, deploy, and support production-quality software, taking on increasing responsibility over time.
Collaborate on scalable systems that process multimodal intelligence data and support national security missions.