"Senior Research Scholar"

Location:

Raleigh, NC

Essential Job Duties:

The Laboratory for Analytic Sciences (LAS) would like to hire an experienced and motivated person who can lead the development of novel, data-driven analytic tools, technology, and tradecraft. This person will have the opportunity to work in an environment that brings together operational analysts, product designers, application developers, data scientists, and multi-disciplinary researchers in collaborative teams to prototype and demonstrate impactful solutions to analytic challenges.

We are looking for a person who can recognize and exploit the possibilities that arise from the unique environment at LAS. Ideally, this person could hold their own in any technical discussion about data science techniques, while understanding and appreciating how those techniques might impact day-to-day workflows of operational analysts. We prefer to work with people who are comfortable working, implementing, and refining potential solutions along many phases of the project and understand the benefits of early testing and feedback.

As a Senior Research Scholar at LAS, you will have the opportunity to lead efforts towards developing analytic solutions that integrate novel technology and tradecraft. You will be responsible for helping NC State manage resources and support for these efforts. You'll also have the opportunity to organize and participate in collaborative research efforts that address strategic research challenges. You may also have the opportunity to serve as NC State's technical lead for our Summer Conference on Applied Data Science.

Specific responsibilities could include:

Technical Leadership:

• Work with operational users and subject matter experts to design analytic solutions that address practical challenge problems in intelligence production and analysis.
• Provide technical guidance and oversight of multiple prototype development efforts, including both long running projects funded by LAS and short (8 week) projects as part of LAS's Summer Conference on Applied Data Science (SCADS).
• Serve as an organizational resource for practical expertise and knowledge of the latest AI/ML-based analytic approaches to natural language, both spoken and written.
• Understand how technical products mature and guide the development of prototype efforts into transitionable knowledge and products.
• Investigate and support methods of integrating and transitioning LAS technical outcomes into existing operational environments.
• Collaborate with operational analysts to evaluate a technical solutions' ability to improve the efficacy and efficiency of analysts' workflows.
• Assist research efforts in identifying and procuring relevant datasets in support of the development and evaluation of technical approaches.
• Identify and integrate relevant and complentary research areas and efforts.
• Publish research and attend workshops/conferences to promote LAS and identify potential collaborators.

Project Management:

• Align the technical scope of projects with strategic objectives and resource constraints.
• Define reasonable and beneficial deliverables for research and development projects and help manage their progress.
• Communicate with project leads to identify and address the needs of various performers.
• Ensure that LAS leadership is informed on the current status and progress of research and development efforts.
• Produce final reports for LAS projects and the SCADS.
• Work with LAS leadership to manage budget and resource needs for various projects.

Analytics and Prototyping:

• Assist with prototype software development efforts, potentially including the design, implementation, configuration, and maintenance of the software and its execution environment.
• Work with open-source and publicly available technologies to develop rapid capability demonstrations to guide the lab's research directions.

Other Work/Responsibilities:

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Experience/Education:

• Relevant Ph.D degree (or relevant terminal degree), with at least 5 years of formal "Post-Doc" training and/or post-degree professional work experience with a demonstrated record of research achievement OR
• Relevant Master's degree, plus at least 8 years of exceptional relevant professional work experience and a record of research achievements.
• In rare instances, an individual with comparable professional experience but less than a master's degree will be considered, on an exception basis. May require terminal degree and licensure.

Required Qualifications:

• Hold active TS/SCI security clearance with full-scope polygraph, or be eligible to obtain within one year of the start date of employment.
• Demonstrated ability to work with research community to explore and identify beneficial applications of basic research concepts.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with end-users in an iterative design/development environment.
• Demonstrated ability to identify challenges/opportunities and propose feasible solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain a positive and helping attitude.
• Demonstrated exceptional communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience collaborating with the academic community.
• Experience working on government-sponsored applied research efforts, ideally with members of the U.S. intelligence community.
• Experience managing and delivering development projects that incorporate research components.
• Preference is given to those with project management experience and certification.
• Preference is given to dynamic individuals with demonstrated leadership skills.

Required License or Certification:

This position requires the ability to gain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance (TS/SCI with Polygraph).