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

Overview

Position location:

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 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.

• 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.

• Level I:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research.
• Level II:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research and 2 years experience in engineering and research practices and principles.
• Level III:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research and 4 years experience in engineering and research practices and principles.
• Level IV:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research and 6 years experience in engineering and research practices and principles.
• Level V:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research and 8 years experience in engineering and research practices and principles.
• Level VI:
  Bachelor's degree in Engineering relevant to the area of research and 10 years experience in engineering and research practices and principles.

Substitutions allowed for education: when a candidate has the required experience, but lacks the required education, they may normally apply additional relevant experience toward the education requirement, at a rate of two (2) years relevant experience per year of required education.

Substitutions allowed for experience: when a candidate has the required education, but lacks the required experience, they may normally apply additional appropriate education toward the experience requirement, at a rate of one (1) year relevant education per year of required experience.

Limited Term

• Life‑Changing Impact:
  Our work changes lives through research, instruction, and outreach, making a lasting impact on our students, our communities, and the world.
• Culture of Excellence:
  We are…