Forward Deployed Data Scientist
Compensation: Competitive
Location: Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, or Remote
Applied AI for defense missions
We are hiring a Forward Deployed Data Scientist to work on complex, high-impact problems at the intersection of AI, data science, and national security.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys turning messy, ambiguous challenges into practical AI systems that can be deployed in real-world environments. You will work directly with end users, develop a deep understanding of their mission needs, and build solutions that help teams make faster, better-informed decisions.
What you’ll be doing
You will work across the full lifecycle of applied AI delivery, from problem definition through deployment. That includes partnering with customers, shaping technical requirements, prototyping quickly, testing with users, and shipping production-ready systems.
Responsibilities include:
- Developing new AI methods and applying existing techniques to solve complex operational problems
- Working directly with customers to understand needs and translate them into technical workflows
- Building and deploying AI and data science solutions into production environments
- Rapidly prototyping models, heuristics, and agentic systems
- Measuring solution effectiveness and iterating based on feedback
- Collaborating with platform, engineering, and data teams to create scalable end-to-end systems
- Contributing reusable capabilities that can support future deployments
What they’re looking for
This team needs someone who combines strong technical depth with customer empathy and a practical delivery mindset. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, making progress quickly, and communicating clearly with a wide range of stakeholders.
You’ll likely be a strong fit if you have:
- Experience translating ambiguous business or operational problems into clear technical requirements
- Strong foundations in data science, machine learning, and applied AI
- Experience prototyping and deploying production-grade AI systems
- The ability to evaluate, tune, and improve solution performance in real-world settings
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- A track record of working cross-functionally with engineering and data teams
- A hands-on, high-ownership approach to solving difficult problems
Tech Stack & Environment
This is an applied AI environment with a strong focus on production delivery rather than pure research. You will work across:
- AI and machine learning systems
- Agentic workflows and AI orchestration
- Production deployment of data science solutions
- Cross-functional collaboration with AI platform and data engineering teams
- Evaluation frameworks and reusable AI capabilities
Additional interest in areas such as LLM evaluation, agentic systems, optimization, operations research, or decision science would be valuable.
Why consider this role
This is a chance to work on meaningful problems where the end use case is clear and the impact is tangible. The team is looking for people who are thoughtful, technically strong, and motivated by building useful systems in demanding environments.
It is especially well suited to candidates who want a mix of customer exposure, technical ownership, and real deployment work.
Additional details
- Full-time role
- Remote or office-based options available
- Significant travel may be required depending on client needs
- U.S. Citizenship is required
People In AI works closely with a select group of AI-focused companies and technical leadership teams. We aim to give candidates a clear view of the opportunity, honest context on team fit, and a more informed process from the outset.
