Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Secure AI Lab

Carnegie Mellon University•Pittsburgh, PA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Machine Learning Engineer will work in the Secure AI Lab within Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) AI Division, engineering solutions that support research into vulnerabilities in AI and machine learning algorithms and ways to secure systems against them. The lab conducts and applies research to protect AI systems from adversaries, with work spanning counter-AI research, defenses for AI and ML algorithms, and applied adversarial machine learning. The engineer will analyze, design, and build responsible AI systems for government sponsors. Work includes building machine learning models and systems, experimenting with modern and emerging methods, rapidly prototyping and evaluating technologies, and assessing systems for performance and security. The role also involves collaborating with researchers, developers, designers, technical leads, and government customers; transitioning AI capabilities to sponsors; and mentoring and teaching colleagues. The position is based onsite at the SEI office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or Arlington, Virginia, five days per week. Travel of up to 25% is required. The role requires the ability to obtain and maintain an active Department of War security clearance and is subject to a background investigation.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in computer science, statistics, machine learning, electrical engineering, or a related discipline and 10 years of experience; or a master's degree in the same fields and 8 years of experience; or a Ph.D. and 5 years of experience.
Comprehensive knowledge of machine learning.
A track record of using established engineering practices to solve difficult problems.
Understanding of how to convert research results into functioning prototypes or capabilities.
Experience leading technical projects in novel areas with limited prior work to build on.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical ideas in layperson's terms.
Substantial experience publishing written or technical artifacts showcasing work.
Strong collaboration skills for working with colleagues and sponsors.
Willingness to guide and mentor junior team members.
Ability to obtain and maintain an active Department of War security clearance and undergo a background investigation.
Willingness to work onsite at the SEI office in Pittsburgh, PA, or Arlington, VA, five days per week.
Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time to locations outside the home location.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in adversarial machine learning.

Responsibilities

Identify and investigate emerging AI and AI-adjacent technologies.
Define and refine processes, practices, and tools for working with AI.
Design and build well-engineered prototypes of AI systems.
Transition AI capabilities to government sponsors and provide guidance on them.
Build machine learning models and systems using machine learning frameworks and modern programming languages.
Build and work with data pipelines, ETL processes, and backend systems.
Work with, extend, and implement state-of-the-art machine learning methods.
Experiment with modern and emerging machine learning frameworks, methods, and algorithms in areas including computer vision, natural language processing, planning and scheduling, robot control, and safe, trusted, and reliable machine learning systems.
Conduct rapid prototyping to demonstrate and evaluate technologies in relevant environments.
Evaluate systems for performance and security, and test capabilities using novel testing and analysis techniques.
Collaborate with developers, researchers, designers, technical leads, and government customers to understand challenges, needs, and potential solutions.
Mentor and teach others, participate in design sessions, and share technical insights across the SEI.