Senior Technical Project Manager, Software Engineer and AI

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Richland, WA

1d•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, Integrated Discovery 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

BS/BA and 11+ years of relevant project management experience -OR- MS/MA or higher and 9+ years of relevant project management experience
Experience managing software engineering, analytics, AI/ML, or data science projects in technically complex environments, including experimentation, validation, deployment, and operationalization
U.S. Citizenship
Ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance
Ability to pass a pre-employment drug test and submit to random drug testing
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)
Must be able to obtain and maintain a HSPD-12 Personal Identify Verification (PIV) Credential
Must successfully complete the applicable tier of federal background investigation post hire and receive a favorable federal adjudication
Must disclose any affiliation with the government of a country identified as a “country of risk” and either recuse oneself or receive approval from DOE and Battelle.

Nice To Haves

Degree in computer science, data science, information technology, engineering, or a related technical field.
Experience with National Security or federal government projects.
Demonstrated success with cross-functional teams (software engineers, data scientists, researchers, SMEs).
Experienced in agile delivery methodologies and project management tools, including Jira and Confluence.
Demonstrated strength in sponsor engagement and stakeholder communication, including effective interaction with senior leaders and mission stakeholders.
PMP certification or commitment to obtain and maintain within a defined period after hire.

Responsibilities

Drive technical program strategy and end-to-end execution across software engineering, data science, and AI/ML initiatives—from roadmap development and project initiation through deployment, operations transition, and sustainment handoff—delivering mission-critical outcomes across agentic AI, data platforms, cloud infrastructure, and software systems
Partner directly with sponsors—to understand mission needs and translate them into practical technical strategies
Lead and mentor engineering teams, guide critical technical decisions, and establish practices that turn research and prototypes into reliable operational capabilities
Own integrated planning and controls—scope, schedule, budget, milestones, resourcing, and governance—delivering clear, actionable status reporting and documented decisions
Apply agile practices to support iterative software delivery, data science experimentation, and development cycles
Collaborate with Technical Leads, Architects, Principal Investigators, Data Scientists, and SMEs to drive execution, resolve blockers, and align technical decisions with program objectives
Maintain project artifacts in Jira/Confluence (backlogs, roadmaps, decision logs, action items, dependency tracking)
Identify and mitigate risks and issues across scope, technical execution, data quality, model performance, ML-Ops readiness, security/compliance, and deployment
Serve as primary stakeholder interface, translating mission objectives into executable plans and managing expectations on progress, risks, and tradeoffs