Research Engineer I​/II​/III​/IV​/V​/VI - Washington D.C.

Overview

This position will be located in Washington D.C. The Charles

D. McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University seeks an experienced

This position will be located in Washington D.C. The Charles

D. McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University seeks an experienced Research Engineer with Artificial Intelligence development experience to support applied research and national security initiatives. The role focuses on contributing to the security of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), initially. The engineer will play a critical role in supporting current and emerging Artificial Intelligence research and the development of new capabilities.

AI/ML and systems engineering is a capability that spans Army, DOE CESER, and FTA. This position is based in the Institute’s Washington D.C. office and reports to the Deputy Director of Applied Research & Services and Edge Lab Director.

The McCrary Institute defends the systems that power our national and economic security, our communities, and our way of life. Through its Edge Lab, McCrary integrates research, policy, and real-world operations to deliver practical cybersecurity solutions.

• Understand Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Model training, fine-tuning, and evaluation.
• Utilize Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering and optimization, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Utilize and incorporate web service APIs.
• Build software using web service APIs.
• Build AI-powered applications (chatbots, copilots, automation tools), design and integrate APIs, design microservices architectures, develop data pipelines and ETL workflows, and understand vector databases.
• Execute model deployment and monitoring.
• Understand SQL and No
  
  SQL databases, data preprocessing and cleaning, and working with structured & unstructured datasets.
• Build AI agents and autonomous workflows, front-end frameworks (React, Next.js), security & privacy in AI systems, and scaling AI products to production.
• Understand embeddings and semantic search.
• Ability to work in either AWS or MS cloud.
• Understand how to build and deploy applications into Department of War environments.
• Document technical findings, vulnerability reports, and operational assessments in clear, actionable formats for internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Collaborate with researchers across the AI labs.
• Serve as the co-principal investigator (co-PI) on selected research proposals and funded efforts, supporting technical vision, work plan development, budget inputs, and execution oversight.
• Contribute to technical content for grant proposals, sponsor briefings, and future research opportunities.
• Utilize strong communication and presentation skills.
• Recognize, analyze, and solve a variety of problems.
• May require travel to Huntsville and Auburn.
• Ensure issues, risks, and changes are communicated promptly to both sponsors and internal leadership.
• Ensure issues, risks, and changes are communicated promptly to both sponsors and internal leadership.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 2 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 4years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 6 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 8 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering that is relevant to the area of research
• 10 years of Experience in engineering and research practices and principles

Substitution allowed for

Education:

When a candidate has the required experience, but lacks the required education, they may normally apply additional relevant experience toward…