Lead Software Engineer IV

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Richland, WA

3d•Onsite

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 National Security Directorate (NSD) drives science-based, mission-focused solutions to take on complex, real-world threats to our nation and the world. The AI and Data Analytics Division, part of NSD, combines profound domain expertise and creative integration of advanced hardware and software to deliver computational solutions that address complex data and analytic challenges. Working in multidisciplinary teams, we connect foundational research to engineering to operations, providing the tools to innovate quickly and field results faster. Our strengths are integrated across the data analytics lifecycle, from data acquisition and management to analysis and decision support.

Requirements

Expert Python + another language (C#/.NET, Go, C++); proven track record establishing best practices, advanced CI/CD, and architecting distributed systems
Production agentic AI experience; deep expertise with PyTorch/TensorFlow/JAX and LLM orchestration; advanced LLM optimization (LoRA/PEFT, RAG, fine-tuning); end-to-end ML platform design
Enterprise-scale architecture across AWS/Azure/GCP; Docker/Kubernetes/IaC; event-driven systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ); API design mastery (REST, GraphQL, gRPC); polyglot persistence (SQL/NoSQL/warehouses)
Cloud-native pipelines & orchestration (Airflow, Prefect); data lakehouse architectures; distributed computing (Spark, Flink, Ray); petabyte-scale optimization and modern data formats (Parquet, Iceberg, Delta)
Mentoring teams, articulating strategy to executives & stakeholders, balancing delivery with technical excellence, and driving cross-functional collaboration
PhD and 3 years of Software Engineering experience -OR- MS/MA and 5 years of Software Engineering experience -OR- BS/BA and 7 years of Software Engineering experience -OR- AA and 16 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development -OR- HS/GED and 18 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development.
Current, hands-on software development experience using Python.

Nice To Haves

Actively using Python and have been doing so for the previous five years
Expert-level Python: Architecting production frameworks, libraries, and large multi-language codebases at scale
Enterprise ETL/data platform leadership: Designing petabyte-scale ETL/ELT pipelines, orchestration (Airflow, Prefect, Step Functions), and data lakehouse architectures
Advanced cloud architecture: Multi-cloud strategy across AWS, Azure, or GCP with Kubernetes and Infrastructure as Code at enterprise scale
FFRDC or national laboratory experience: Prior work within a Federally Funded Research and Development Center or DOE national lab environment
National security / intelligence experience: Supporting government, defense, or intelligence programs, including classified and compliance-driven environments
Production agentic AI / advanced LLM experience: Deploying autonomous agent systems, RAG, and fine-tuned models in operational environments
Distributed ML at scale: Deploying and optimizing ML workloads on Ray, Spark, or Kubernetes clusters
Technical team leadership: Proven experience leading engineering teams through ambiguous, high-impact scope

Responsibilities

Architect and build next-generation AI systems at PNNL, spanning agentic AI platforms, petabyte-scale data orchestration, and real-time intelligence processing that define the future of national security technology.
Blend deep technical leadership with hands-on AI/ML engineering, requiring both strategic vision and tactical excellence.
Lead engineers on high-impact ambiguous scope, drive architecture and strategy, build roadmaps from cutting-edge research, and mentor teams.