Lead Human-Centered AI Engineer

MITRE Corporation - McLean, VA

Full-time - Mid Level

McLean, VA

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

At MITRE, we are dedicated to addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation, and we believe that our employees can achieve both meaningful work and a fulfilling life. As a not-for-profit corporation, MITRE operates without commercial conflicts, allowing us to focus solely on the public interest. Our R&D centers work across various sectors, including cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation, making a significant impact on society. We are committed to fostering a workplace that reflects our values, offering competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth. The Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) Solutions department at MITRE is seeking a qualified Lead HCAI Engineer. This role is pivotal in driving research in AI and Machine Learning (ML) technologies aimed at solving complex problems to create a safer world. The department employs human-centered engineering principles to enhance AI and software development practices, enabling diverse human teams and AI systems to achieve superior outcomes together. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, executing, and applying research that investigates human interactions with emerging AI technologies, such as Large Language Models (LLM), in alignment with our sponsors' priorities and use cases. In this role, you will assist MITRE and government sponsors in defining and executing research to address challenging collaboration problems across various domains, including healthcare, intelligence, and defense. You will apply human-centered methods to design and evaluate interactions with LLM, AI, and ML technologies, and lead complex projects while guiding the work of others. Your responsibilities will also include writing proposals for research and prototyping that can be applied to our sponsors' specific use cases and contribute to public discussions about AI. As an advocate for human-centered AI research, you will help shape MITRE's strategy in this area, publish research findings, and present at conferences. Your expertise in academic and industry best practices for human-centered AI research will be essential to your success in this position.

Responsibilities

• Assist MITRE and government sponsors in defining, executing, and applying research to solve challenging collaboration problems in domains such as healthcare, intelligence, and defense.
• Apply human-centered methods to design and evaluate human interactions with LLM, AI, and ML technologies.
• Design, conduct, and communicate human-centered research on AI, including formal experimental research and observational/naturalistic research.
• Lead complex projects, planning and guiding the work of others in conducting and applying research.
• Write proposals to conduct research and prototyping that can be applied to our sponsors' concrete use cases and to advance public discussion about AI.
• Advocate for human-centered AI research inside and outside MITRE including shaping our organization's strategy in Human-Centered AI; publish research and present at conferences.
• Demonstrate expertise in academic and industry best practices for human-centered AI research.

Requirements

• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Strong fundamentals in human factors, cognitive engineering, human-centered design, or another related approach to human-systems interaction.
• Experience applying user-centered design and evaluation methods including at least two of the following: task analysis, personas, journey maps, usability testing, cognitive walkthroughs, critical decision method, design thinking, participatory design.
• Experience proposing, designing, and/or conducting research on human interactions with AI systems and interfaces, including LLMs.
• Experience with one or more data analysis tools and techniques.
• Proven ability to work independently to learn new technologies, techniques, processes, platforms, and systems.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills.
• Ability to obtain and maintain DoD Secret clearance.

Nice-to-haves

• PhD in Computer Science, Human Factors, Social Sciences, or related field.
• Experience with and/or passion for working with national security or the public sector.
• Track record of publications, reports, presentations, essays, etc. about human interactions with AI.
• Experience leading research teams.
• Active DoD Top Secret/SCI clearance.
• Experience in Python or another programming language frequently used for AI/ML prototyping.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits
• Exceptional professional development opportunities
• Culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth