Data Scientist

The Missions Concepts and Capabilities (MCC) division of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is seeking a Data Scientist. The ideal candidate has a passion for data science, to include statistics, data visualization, machine learning, and analytics and is comfortable writing computer code. With these skills, a data scientist with ARA will support a variety of projects that protect our nation and troops from harm, to include weapons of mass destruction.  Representative tasks may include using Jupyter Notebooks to create interactive training materials for weapons effects applications, developing machine learning models for object detection within imagery and videos, building interactive visualizations and dashboards for sensor analytics, and using large language models to support knowledge management and retention activities.

This position will place you in a team of engineers and scientists developing a suite of software tools used by the defense community, to include interactive training materials, weapons effects modeling and simulation applications, and artificial intelligence solutions to aid research and development projects. Our culture encourages personal and professional growth by pushing the limits of technology while creating opportunities for cross-training and mentoring within the team. Candidates must be located within or willing to relocate to the National Capital Region.  Hybrid work is permissible depending on the evolving project requirements.

The Data Scientist primary functions:

• Collect, curate, impute, and normalize structured and unstructured data
• Develop interactive visualizations and dashboards to facilitate knowledge discovery and analysis using libraries such as Plotly, Bokeh, and HoloViz
• Develop machine learning algorithms and models using libraries such as SciKit-Learn, TensorFlow, Keras, and PyTorch
• Develop computer vision approaches to analyze images and video
• Conduct data analysis of outputs from engineering and first principles physics codes
• Deploy machine learning and analytics tools for operational use
• Support testing, evaluation, and demonstrations of software and analytics tools in unclassified and classified environments
• Take on new challenges and learn new skills to enhance algorithm and software performance in previously unanticipated ways

Most data science activities will use Jupyter Lab and Notebooks with Python and standard libraries including Pandas, Matplotlib, Plotly, SciKit-Learn, and others.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in data science, computational science, computer science, mathematics, engineering, or related field
• 2-4 years of relevant experience

• Strong Python programming skills
• Experience with Jupyter suite (e.g., Jupyter Lab, Jupyter Notebooks)
• Hands-on experience completing projects (academic or otherwise) in data science, data visualization, machine learning, and/or data analytics
• Eagerness to learn new tools and techniques
• US citizen
• The ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense secret security clearance

Desired Qualifications:

• Previous internship or support to the Department of Defense
• Active security clearance
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in data science, computational science, computer science, mathematics, engineering, or related field
• Experience with a variety of industry standard tools for data visualization and machine learning such as OpenCV, SciKit, R, TensorFlow, etc.

• Familiarity with interactive visualizations using tools such as MatplotLib, Plotly, HoloViz, Julia, D3, and Bokeh
•  Programming experience in other memory safe languages such as Rust or C#

COMPANY INFORMATION:

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs over 1200 professionals. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site characterization, pavement analysis, and robotics.

At ARA, employees are our greatest assets. The corporation realizes that employee ownership fosters greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. ARA gives its employees the tools, training, opportunities, and freedom to grow and pursue work that they are passionate about. The culture is challenging; innovation and experimentation are the norm. Employees are eligible for contributions which not only add to the company’s success, but also their own through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The motto, “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” sums up the ARA experience. For additional information and an opportunity to join this unique workplace, please visit our website at www.ara.com.

Please apply at www.careers.ara.com for the Data Scientist position.