Associate AI Research Engineer

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.

Department Summary:

MITRE’s Trustworthy & Secure AI (TSAI) Department consists of a diverse team united by a passion and a sense of urgency to harness trustworthy and assured artificial intelligence (AI) to help solve problems in the public interest. The TSAI Department supports our sponsors' missions by delivering capabilities for securing and increasing trust in AI-enabled systems, including data driven AI risk awareness and mitigation, AI red teaming, and trusted tools and techniques for applying AI in high consequence environments. The TSAI Department works across government, industry, and academia to provide, assess, and shape trustworthy and secure AI systems to address complex mission needs for our sponsors. Our work provides opportunities to address real-world challenges in the rapidly developing field of AI assurance, and to research and prototype new methods to address mission needs. We are looking for highly motivated, adaptive, and self-directed candidates to perform research, development, engineering, evaluation, and integration of secure AI systems.

Roles & Responsibilities:

The position involves assessing threats to AI systems, research and development of defenses and mitigations against adversarial AI tactics and techniques, and integrating AI solutions into government systems. Specific responsibilities will include:

Perform AI adversarial threat analysis to identify and characterize vulnerabilities in real-world national security systems

Work across military and intelligence community sponsors to understand shared needs and technologies

Utilize and enhance MITRE ATLAS framework for assessing threats to AI-enabled systems

Contribute to the innovation of new AI capabilities applied to cyber operational challenges

Convey complex ideas to non-technical audiences through briefings and/or white papers

Basic Qualifications:

Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree and less than 1 year of artificial intelligence experience, or equivalent combination of AI-related education and work experience

Working understanding of foundational AI/ML theory, with demonstrated ability to reason about AI system behavior, vulnerabilities, and evaluation

Project experience in one or more of the following technical areas: agentic AI, deep reinforcement learning, computer vision, generative AI

Demonstrated proficiency with Python and the standard AI technical stack

Ability to work independently to learn new technologies, methods, processes, frameworks/platforms, and systems

Excellent written and verbal communication skills to articulate challenging technical concepts to both lay and expert audiences

Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI 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 requires a minimum of 3 days per week on-site

Preferred Qualifications:

Track record of successful deployment of AI/ML systems or components that have been used by customers or stakeholders outside of a lab/experimental setting

Hands-on experience with one or more of the following AI security topics: AI red teaming, AI T&E, adversarial AI, AI-enhanced cybersecurity, AI strategy and governance

Familiarity with MITRE ATLAS threat matrix

Active DOD Secret clearance

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):

Not Applicable

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):

Top Secret/SCI

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$97,600 - $122,000 - $146,400 Annual

Work Location Type:

Onsite

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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