Massachusetts Institute of Technology

AI Researcher/Prototyping Engineer

Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • PhD in electrical engineering, computer science, or relevant field; Master's with 5 years experience considered
  • Advanced knowledge of AI applications in multimedia and cybersecurity
  • Expertise in machine learning, deep learning, adversarial AI, and system analysis
  • Proficiency in building reproducible prototypes within a research-to-prototype pipeline
  • Hands-on experience with LangChain or similar agentic-AI frameworks
  • Advanced Python proficiency and deep learning libraries expertise
  • Strong leadership skills in research team settings with project management experience

Responsibilities

  • Design and develop advanced ML algorithms for multimedia and cybersecurity
  • Apply innovative methods to real-world AI challenges and problem-solving
  • Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams in a development environment
  • Publish and present cutting-edge research at key industry conferences
  • Translate complex project requirements into actionable research tasks
  • Establish metrics for evaluating AI system effectiveness
  • Mentor and guide junior staff on research and project tasks

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
  • MIT-funded pension
  • Matching 401K contributions
  • Paid leave including vacation and parental leave
  • Tuition reimbursement and professional development programs
  • Access to mentorship programs
  • Flexible work-life balance options
  • Additional voluntary benefits and discounts
Full Job Description
Are you excited to contribute to world-class research in artificial intelligence with real impact on national security? The Artificial Intelligence Technology and Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory has over 50 years of experience developing revolutionary technologies for critical national missions.

We specialize in machine learning (ML) algorithms, technologies, and systems that extract and analyze information from multimedia data-including speech, text, images, and video. In recent years, we have significantly expanded our mission to include developing impactful ML solutions for cybersecurity in collaboration with the Nation's top cyber organizations.

As a recognized leader in both basic and applied AI/ML, our group is shaping emerging AI fields and driving the Laboratory's efforts in AI Assurance across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. We also integrate expertise in multimedia, cyber, and AI assurance to develop cutting-edge technologies for Operations in the Information Environment (OIE).

A hallmark of our work is a focus on operational relevance: we design and evaluate AI/ML systems using realistic datasets and metrics, and we partner directly with intelligence analysts and cyber operators to ensure rapid transition of our technologies into real-world, mission-critical systems.

Our staff members:
  • Design, program, and architect advanced ML methods.
  • Develop algorithms in speech, natural language processing, multimedia, cyber, and graph analytics.
  • Publish and present research at premier conferences.


The AI Technology and Systems Group is seeking motivated for applicants that can contribute to projects addressing a wide range of national needs in AI and ML. Assignments may include:
  • Research on state-of-the-art algorithms in signal processing, natural language processing, graph analytics, or adversarial AI.
  • Applying innovative methods to challenging, real-world problems.
  • Working in a collaborative, team-oriented development environment.


This is an opportunity to apply your skills to some of the most important technical challenges of our time-while learning from and contributing to a world-class research community.

Qualifications:

Candidate should possess a PhD in electrical engineering, computer science or other relevant discipline, or a Master's with 5 years of relevant experience, will be considered.

Desired Skills:

  • Knowledge of artificial intelligence ideally with applications on multimedia, cyber security or adversarial/assurance experience.
  • Deep AI/ML experience - graduate-level (or professional) knowledge of state-of-the-art machine-learning, deep-learning, LLM/agentic AI, multimodal perception, graph analytics, adversarial/AI-assurance, or cyber-ML; ability to read, critique, and extend advanced research papers.
  • System analysis & problem decomposition - can translate high-level end-state requirements into a clear set of research tasks, define quantitative success metrics and measures, and produce a task-breakdown structure that aligns with program/project milestones. Adept at formulating hypothesis, designing controlled experiments, and drawing data-driven conclusions on novel problems.
  • Operate within a rapid research-to-prototype pipeline - demonstrable ability to turn novel algorithms and approaches into robust, reproduceable prototypes in tight timescales, around iterative refinement.
  • Agentic-AI framework experience - hands-on work with LangChain or comparable toolkits; able to design, implement, and evaluate end-to-end LLM-driven agents.
  • Advanced Python & ML libraries - expert-level proficiency in Python and deep-learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.), plus Huggingface ecosystem, NumPy/pandas/Scipy, etc.
  • Software-engineering best practices - strong Git workflow (branching, pull-requests, code reviews), continuous-integration testing, environment reproducibility (e.g., conda, virtualenv). Ability to document code, write reproducible experiment notebooks, and maintain versioned releases.
  • Team and Project leadership - experience leading small research teams, assigning tasks, tracking progress, removing technical blockers, and mentoring junior staff.
  • Stakeholder communication - strong written and oral skills for prepping technical briefings, composing white-papers, demo presentations, and funding proposals; able to convey complex research outcomes to sponsors, senior leadership, and external partners.
  • Detail-oriented, able to multi-task, with the ability to work autonomously, set technical direction, and operate with minimal supervision.
  • Current TS/SCI clearance or willingness to obtain one.


Recent Graduate Hiring Range: $145,200 - $170,000
Experienced Hiring Range: $145,200 - $220,000

Disclaimer: MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting. The final salary offered to a selected candidate will depend on various factors, including-but not limited to-the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidate's experience, skills and education/training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements. This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits.

At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, our exceptional career opportunities include many outstanding benefits to help you stay healthy, feel supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work-life balance. Benefits offered to employees include:
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
  • MIT-funded pension
  • Matching 401K
  • Paid leave (including vacation, sick, parental, military, etc.)
  • Tuition reimbursement and continuing education programs
  • Mentorship programs
  • A range of work-life balance options
  • ... and much more!

Please visit our Benefits page for more information. As an employee of MIT, you can also take advantage of other voluntary benefits, discounts and perks.

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

Requisition ID: 43123

About Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university is known for its strong emphasis on scientific and technological research and its engineering programs. MIT was founded in 1861 and has a long history of innovation and entrepreneurship. The university has produced numerous Nobel laureates, Rhodes Scholars, and MacArthur Fellows.
Learn more about Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Size
13,000 employees
Industry

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar AI Researcher/Prototyping Engineer jobs: