Director of Data Science and AI

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

Information Systems and Cyber Division (ISCD) staff couple the latest in information system technologies, such as elastic compute clouds, containerization, microservices, real-time operating systems, and visualization frameworks, with expertise in cyber security, software architecture, software engineering, data science, Artificial Intelligence, process improvement, and software development to deliver responsive, resilient, high-performance software intensive systems to our IC, DoD, and civilian customers. 

The Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Department (DSAID) seeks a dynamic, creative, and enthusiastic Director to lead a talented team of engineers & data scientists with a passion for researching, prototyping, understanding, and building AI and data enabled tools across the space enterprise. We are an innovative and collaborative department that makes meaningful contributions across the entirety of National Security Space (USSF, NRO, etc.) and Civil and Commercial customers (NASA, MDA, DHS, commercial space, autonomous vehicles, etc.). 

An ideal candidate is a community-focused leader, focused on setting department strategy and priorities, aligning with corporate and customer priorities, developing staff, and furthering efforts spanning internally funded R&D and customer support for mission-critical space systems. 

This is a full-time  position based  in Chantilly, VA, Colorado Springs, CO, or El Segundo, CA which requires 100% work. 

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What You’ll Be Doing 

• Lead technical teams and contribute to technical tasks in data science, machine learning engineering, and AI research 
• Lead DSAID management team to recruit, develop and manage technical staff in data science, machine learning engineering, and AI research aligned with corporate and customer priorities 
• Execute R&D and digital transformation strategies pertaining to AI and cross-technology dependencies to position the organization and the company for current and future customer mission support success 
• Coordinate between DSAID and Aerospace customer facing organizations to understand mission needs, prioritize resources, determine tasking, report progress, resolve technical issues, and deliver/review results 
• Discover opportunities for additional, expanded, or new business. Aid in the evaluation and pursuit of new business opportunities and propose technical efforts aligned with customer needs 
• Assess and execute staffing needs, reassignments, transfers, terminations, performance improvements, career development, and promotional actions 
• Ensure team compliance with security monitoring, processes, and corporate policies 
• Communicate activities, accomplishments, and recommendations to leadership and staff 
• Participate in technical exchanges, team building, and education across organizational boundaries 
• Duties, responsibilities and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned as needed 

What You Need to be Successful - Director 

Minimum Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or STEM related technical field(s) 
• 10 years of industry experience in data science, machine learning, or relevant AI research 
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies across multiple domains 
• Proven experience to efficiently manage teams to deliver analysis and insights from data that is large, unstructured, or unprocessed 
• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills, with ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with customers and management/staff across organizations   
• Experience with at least two different programming languages (e.g. Java, Python, C/C++), including familiarity with machine learning and deep learning libr