Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Verification and Validation Engineer
The Pennsylvania State University2 months ago
Reston, VA, USAEntry Level / Mid Level / Senior
Base Salary
$111k - $241k/yr
Responsibilities
- Label, annotate, curate, and quality-check multimodal datasets supporting AI/ML development and evaluation.
- Design and maintain pipelines for data ingestion, transformation, quality control, cataloging, and labeling automation.
- Develop annotation standards, labeling guidelines, data governance processes, metadata schemas, and data catalogs.
- Conduct independent verification and validation of datasets and model outputs for integrity, accuracy, and fitness for use.
- Collaborate with research scientists, algorithm developers, and stakeholders to identify and prioritize data requirements.
- Document data provenance, lineage, limitations, and reproducibility information for model evaluation and responsible AI practices.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, computer science, data science, information science, or a related technical field.
- Proficiency in Python and SQL for data manipulation, analysis, and pipeline development.
- Familiarity with data annotation tools and workflows such as CVAT or Label Studio.
- Understanding of machine learning concepts and the impact of data quality on model training, evaluation, and deployment.
- Relevant experience requirements vary by appointment level: none for Professional, 2+ years for Intermediate Professional, or 5+ years for Advanced Professional.
- U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain a government security clearance are required; candidates may undergo background investigations and must comply with ARL monitoring and drug-testing requirements.
- Preferred qualifications include DoD or Intelligence Community experience, geospatial or imagery data experience, data versioning or catalog-platform experience, IV&V and quality-assurance knowledge, and exposure to Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, or Azure.
Benefits
- Full-time employees receive medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement plans, holidays, vacation, sick time, and a 75% tuition discount for employees and eligible spouses and children.
- The position is fully on-site in State College, Pennsylvania, or Reston, Virginia; remote or hybrid work is not guaranteed.
- The role is part of an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner organization and welcomes transitioning military members.
About The Pennsylvania State University
The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State is a University Affiliated Research Center that delivers contract research, prototyping, and systems engineering for U.S. national security and related sponsors. Its work spans undersea systems, communications, navigation, acoustics, fluid dynamics, and advanced materials and manufacturing. Founded in 1945 and based in State College, Pennsylvania, ARL operates within The Pennsylvania State University and is funded largely through federal contracts and grants.