Lead AI Architect (Intelligence Center)

The MITRE Corporation•McLean, VA

49d•$174,000 - $261,000•Onsite

About The Position

Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges—and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day—working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities for career growth, and a culture of innovation that embraces adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and people in partnership. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE - and make a difference with us. The National Intelligence Division operates within the Intelligence Center of MITRE's National Security Engineering Center (NSEC). We combine our domain expertise with leading technical capabilities to solve the hardest emerging and enduring problems challenging the national security enterprise. Applying diverse, interdisciplinary talent and objective insight, we fuse information from all intelligence disciplines to create products, tradecraft, and tools that advance the intelligence missions of policymakers and analysts in this era of strategic competition. Our core disciplines include: Advanced Capability Research Counterintelligence Counterterrorism Data-Driven Policy Intelligence Fusion Mission Engineering Science and Technology The N924 IC Enterprise Operations Department solves strategic problems for the counterterrorism community through our comprehensive understanding of the terrorism and counterterrorism landscape, deep technical expertise, and an objective view of the intelligence community. Our team leverages domain and technical expertise from across MITRE to deliver innovative solutions to the counterterrorism community’s most complex, enduring technical, analytical, and strategic challenges while serving as trusted advisors to the nation’s leaders.

Requirements

Typically requires a minimum of 8 years experience in AI with a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; or 6 years and a Master’s degree.
Demonstrated experience with AI-enabled systems across the capability lifecycle including research and development, strategy, policy, acquisition, systems engineering, test and evaluation, operations, program management, technology transition, or sustainment
Experience supporting technical research, systems engineering, software engineering, cybersecurity, data analytics, AI/ML, or emerging technology initiatives.
Working knowledge of AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, Large Language Models, or related emerging technologies.
Experience analyzing technical concepts, systems, or capabilities and communicating findings through written reports, briefings, or technical documentation.
Ability to evaluate technical information and develop clear, evidence-based findings and recommendations.
Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary technical teams and government stakeholders.
Ability to understand complex technical concepts and translate them into strategic recommendations for a range of audiences
Demonstrated ability to shape and define work in collaboration with sponsors or stakeholders, even in the absence of fully defined requirements
Demonstrated leadership skills, including leading teams, developing and managing schedules, communicating risks, and managing budgets
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to a range of audiences.
Must have an active Top Secret/SCI w/Poly 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 has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, or other national security missions.
Experience evaluating or implementing AI/ML, Generative AI, LLM, RAG, agentic AI, or autonomous system capabilities.
Experience supporting AI engineering, systems engineering, solution architecture, cloud engineering, data engineering, DevSecOps, MLOps, or LLMOps.
Experience evaluating emerging technologies, commercial products, government-developed capabilities, or open-source solutions for enterprise or mission use.
Experience supporting technology pilots, prototypes, demonstrations, operational evaluations, or transition-to-production activities.
Knowledge of AI security, including model security, adversarial AI, prompt injection, data leakage, AI supply-chain risks, or AI red teaming.
Familiarity with Responsible AI, AI governance, model risk management, or the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF).
Experience developing technology assessments, architecture documentation, technical risk assessments, executive briefings, or investment recommendations.
Experience working in classified environments, secure cloud environments, or with national security systems.
Relevant technical or professional certifications such as AWS Machine Learning, Azure AI Engineer, Google Professional Machine Learning Engineer, NVIDIA AI, TOGAF, CISSP, PMP, SAFe, or AI governance/risk management certifications.

Responsibilities

Support the evaluation, engineering, integration, and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Generative AI, and other emerging technology capabilities.
Assess commercial, government, and open-source AI technologies to identify potential mission applications, capability gaps, risks, and modernization opportunities.
Support the development and evaluation of AI solution architectures, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic AI, data architectures, and cloud-based AI solutions.
Assist engineering teams with the design, integration, testing, and technical assessment of AI capabilities in laboratory, pilot, and operational environments.
Support AI test, evaluation, verification, and validation (TEVV), including performance benchmarking, operational testing, robustness assessments, and mission suitability evaluations.
Review technical designs, engineering approaches, implementation plans, and test results to assess technical readiness and identify risks or areas for improvement.
Support pilot activities, demonstrations, and technology evaluations, including development of use cases, test criteria, technical findings, and recommendations.
Research emerging AI technologies and industry trends and translate findings into actionable recommendations for technical and executive stakeholders.
Support secure and responsible AI implementation, including AI security, risk management, model governance, data protection, and compliance with applicable policies and standards.
Develop technical documentation, technology assessments, decision briefings, engineering reports, and other products that communicate findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences.
Collaborate with engineers, architects, cybersecurity professionals, program managers, mission stakeholders, and government sponsors to transition promising technologies into operational use.