Group Leader, Secure AI Research

Requisition Id16283

Overview:

The Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division (CRID) in the National Security Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is seeking a senior scientist to lead a world-class applied research and development group. The Secure Artificial Intelligence Research (SAIR) Group in the Advanced Intelligent Systems Section is a newly formed group that will include data scientists, Artificial Intelligence experts and practitioners, and software/computer engineers carrying out applied research and development with machine learning systems at scales ranging from edge computing to large computer systems. The group primary mission is security research and development focused on identifying, characterizing, and mitigating vulnerabilities in modern AI systems-including large language models (LLMs), multi-modal generative models, and architectures such as CNNs and Transformers. The group enables mission and product stakeholders to more effectively assess and manage AI risk across the model lifecycle, from data collection and training through deployment and monitoring. Example problem areas include prompt injection and jailbreaks, data poisoning, adversarial examples, model inversion and membership inference, tampering, insecure tool use and agentic workflows, multi-modal attacks (image/audio/text), and unsafe or unreliable generation behaviors.

This group develops and applies state-of-the-art methods in AI red teaming, evaluation and benchmarking, scalable experimentation, automated vulnerability discovery, and defense engineering (e.g., robust training, filtering, access controls, policy enforcement, and secure orchestration). The focus of the group's projects is to produce feasible, measurable security improvements-ranging from attack/defense prototypes and repeatable test harnesses to deployable mitigations and monitoring capabilities-supporting operational adoption of trustworthy, resilient AI systems.

The group leader will oversee the group's applied R&D agenda, will recruit and hire new staff that will enable execution of the group mission, will lead the effort to respond to new funding opportunities, and will guide the ongoing growth and development of the research staff that will carry out that R&D agenda.

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an impressive 80-year legacy of addressing the nation's most pressing challenges. Our team is made up of over 7,000 dedicated and innovative individuals! Our goal is to create an environment where a variety of perspectives and backgrounds are valued, ensuring ORNL is known as a top choice for employment. These principles are essential for supporting our broader mission to drive scientific breakthroughs and translate them into solutions for energy, environmental, and security challenges facing the nation.

Major Duties/Responsibilities:

• Oversee high quality applied research in various domains related to national security.
• Collaborate with application scientists inside and outside of the laboratory to advance the mission of the group, laboratory, and sponsors such as DOD, IC, DHS, DOE, and other agencies that support the national security mission.
• Conduct state-of-the-art research as part of the group and publish results in journals, conferences, and technical reports.
• Develop new research proposals as a basis of continued support of the national security mission and the overall health of the group.
• Manage staff within the group, including the retention of highly qualified staff; the development of staff capabilities; and ensuring that staff members are effectively utilized, rewarded, and motivated.
• Mentor less experienced staff in developing ideas and proposals, developing and executing a research plan, and presenting results.
• Recruit new researchers into the group from high quality academic institutions and research organizations.
• Represent group-level work to review committees and outside bodies as appropriate.
• Manage the group budget.
• Provide leadership in all areas of ES&H and full implementation of integrated safety management in the group.

Basic Qualifications:

• A Ph.D. or Masters in Computer Science, Applied Math, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 6 years (for Ph.D.) or 12 years (for M.S.) of research and development experience in national security research or a complementary field.
• Expertise should complement the purpose and mission of the group as described above, including working knowledge of fundamental machine learning methods.
• Experience writing successful R&D proposals, research plans, and engaging government agencies to capture sponsored research programs.
• Experience managing medium/large research projects and presenting project results.
• Experience managing/mentoring students or researchers and recruiting new staff.
• Experience deploying complex software stacks to operational use.
• A proven publication record in the field of interest.

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge and experience with the development and deployment of state-of-the art computational architectures for data management and analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively interact with senior levels of client management and others involved in technical endeavors.
• A successful record of developing research partnerships and collaborative relationships with universities, industry, and research laboratories.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to work independently, outstanding written and oral communication skills, good organizational skills.

Special Requirement:

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance from the Department of Energy. As such, this position is a Workplace Substance Abuse (WSAP) testing designated position. WSAP positions require passing a pre-placement drug test and participation in an ongoing random drug testing program. In addition, due the SCI, you may also be subject to random polygraph testing.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply. UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.