Principal Artificial Intelligence 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:

Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges-and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day-working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities for career growth, and a culture of innovation that embraces adaptability, collaboration, technical excellence, and people in partnership. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE - and make a difference with us.

MITRE’s Multi-INT AI Engineering Department brings together the deep technical knowledge needed to develop new capabilities and the critical domain knowledge needed to shape them for multiple sponsor missions. That combination gives us the depth and breadth to thrive in mission-focused research and development and science and technology organizations. It also reflects the credibility we have earned with sponsors through work spanning research, analysis, prototyping, test, and evaluation. We draw on all these strengths to turn promising ideas into capabilities that serve real mission needs.

We seek motivated people with experience in artificial intelligence (AI), software development, and cloud engineering experience who want to apply their skills to meaningful mission challenges. Our teams bring together sensors, AI and machine learning (ML), and data engineering to exploit multimodal data. This includes remote sensing data collected using infrared imagery (OPIR), hyperspectral imagery (HSI), radar (SAR/GMTI), full motion video (FMV), Wide Are Motion Imagery (WAMI), and 3D data from a range of sources.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Set technical direction for related prototype efforts, resolving architecture and integration tradeoffs and identifying research approaches suited to emerging mission needs.
• Establish data engineering approaches for complex multimodal pipelines and integrate findings across mission data sources.
• Set evaluation and study approaches across related sponsor questions, assessing the strength and limitations of the evidence.
• Lead teams or projects with notable risk, complexity, and resource requirements across related efforts.
• Align teams around shared objectives, resolve dependencies, and guide execution across technical disciplines.
• Build productive sponsor relationships, advise on technical options, and influence decisions among technical and mission stakeholders.
• Mentor technical staff and transfer expertise across the job family.
• Identify consequential mission challenges, secure support for long-term outcomes, and advise on technical investments and transition paths.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires at least 10 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree; 8 years with a master’s degree; a PhD with 5 years’ experience; or an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Expert software and cloud engineering knowledge, including experience setting architecture and resolving integration and deployment tradeoffs across related AI efforts.
• Experience establishing data engineering approaches for multimodal pipelines with complex quality, integration, performance, and access needs.
• Experience setting AI evaluation strategies and applying knowledge of multi-INT workflows and mission constraints to complex studies.
• Ability to assess emerging technologies, identify significant capability gaps, and solve technical problems with lasting impact.
• Experience leading related teams or projects with notable risk, complexity, and resource requirements.
• Ability to build sponsor relationships, align stakeholders around technical decisions, mentor staff, and share expertise across the job family.
• Ability to work in classified and unclassified environments, including a SCIF.
• Must have an active Top Secret/SCI with CI Poly 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 has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in computer science, engineering, or related disciplines.
• Experience shaping multi-INT fusion approaches across related efforts and assessing how sensor characteristics affect findings.
• Experience advising on the capabilities, limitations, and mission value of large language models or agentic AI across multiple use cases.
• Experience coordinating technical studies that inform government acquisition or investment decisions.
• Track record of leading multidisciplinary efforts from prototype evaluation through recommendations for sponsor transition or investment.

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

Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph

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/Polygraph

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$191,200 - $239,000 - $286,800 Annual

Work Location Type:

Onsite

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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