University of Maryland

Computational Linguist

University of Maryland • $150K — $180K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Doctoral degree in a relevant field from an accredited institution.
  • 5+ years of research experience in NLP or computational linguistics.
  • Demonstrated proficiency with AI/ML tools and text analysis technologies.
  • Advanced Python knowledge with 1+ years of applied experience in NLP.
  • Evidence of scholarly production such as publications or technical reports.

Responsibilities

  • Contribute to R&D on government projects related to NLP and information warfare.
  • Utilize AI/ML tools for text analysis and model training.
  • Lead applied research projects in computational linguistics.
  • Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams on project objectives and solutions.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical system errors efficiently.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional development and research funding.
  • Access to cutting-edge technology and resources in language processing.
  • Flexible work environment supporting both independent and collaborative efforts.
  • Networking opportunities within government and academic sectors.
Full Job Description
Job Description Summary
The Computational Linguist will contribute to a portfolio of government-sponsored projects addressing emerging challenges in areas such as autonomy, decision support, cyber operations, information warfare, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and natural language processing. Positions may include a focus on research development, prototyping, experimentation, systems integration, or field deployment. Final appointment title and responsibilities will be based on qualifications and matched to programmatic needs.

Must be able to obtain a US security clearance. If selected, must meet the requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to a government security clearance investigation that includes criminal and credit history checks, as well as verification of U.S. citizenship, birth, education, employment, and military history. Final offer is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to successfully obtain the necessary interim Secret security clearance, as determined by ARLIS, prior to commencing employment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Advanced knowledge of Python for all-purpose use/application to a variety of problems (comfort with all commonly used aspects of the language, with general scripting, data science, task automation, data collection, etc.), plus demonstrated evidence of 1+ years of regular use for professional/research purposes involving NLP. 5+ years of regular use for professional/research purposes preferred.
• Skill in the use of Microsoft Office products.
• Skill in troubleshooting system errors.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize assignments.
• Ability to analyze situations and determine the best recourse for response.

Minimum Qualifications:
Education:
• Doctoral degree in a relevant field, from an accredited college or university.

Experience:
• Evidence of sound scholarly production.
• Perform R&D at a level comparable to Assistant Research Scientist.
• Evidence of sound scholarly production (e.g., conference presentations, published journal articles, published code, published datasets, technical reports).
• 5 years of research experience.
• Background in and demonstrated proficiency with computational linguistics/natural language processing (NLP), such as through the application of NLP to problems in candidate’s area of expertise.
• Experience utilizing AI/ML tools (including LLMs) and supporting technologies relevant to the enrichment and analysis of text data, such those used in RAG pipelines, NER, sentiment analysis, general semantic search, etc. Experience training and/or tuning models preferred.
• Experience with Python packages commonly used for AI/ML, text parsing/processing, data collection, and data science preferred (e.g., Pandas, Numpy, BeautifulSoup or other XML/HTML parsers, experience with web requests/scripted API utilization, scikit-learn, spaCy, transformers, pytorch, and/or similar).
• Experience leading applied research projects.

Physical Demands:
Sedentary work performed in a normal office environment; exerts up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Ability to attend meetings both on and off campus. Spending long hours in front of a computer screen.

Preferences:
Education:
• Degree in computational linguistics or linguistics, computer science with a focus on language technologies, or related analytic discipline.

Experience:
• Comfort working independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Active, or eligible for a security clearance; prior clearance at SECRET or higher that is active or inactive is preferred; current TS/SCI clearance strongly preferred.
• Foreign language capabilities, at the advanced level.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary project teams.

Licenses/ Certifications: N/A

Additional Job Details

Required Application Materials: Cover Letter, Resume, List of Reference

Best Consideration Date: 10/16/26

 

Posting Close Date: N/A

 

Open Until Filled: Yes

 

Financial Disclosure RequiredNo

For more information on Financial Disclosure, please visit Maryland's State Ethics Commission website.

DepartmentVPR-Applied Research Lab for Intelligence & Security

Worker Sub-Type Faculty Regular

Salary Range$150,000 - $180,000

Benefits Summary

For more information on Regular Faculty benefits, select this link.

About University of Maryland

The University of Maryland is a public research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, it is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. The university offers 127 undergraduate majors and 112 graduate programs, and is classified among 'R1: Doctoral Universities ? Very high research activity'. The university has a strong focus on research, with more than $1 billion in annual research expenditures. It is also known for its athletic programs, particularly its basketball team, the Maryland Terrapins.
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