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Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Biometrics AI/ML Engineer
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What they do
A Machine Learning Engineer specializes in designing, building, and deploying machine learning models. They utilize statistical and mathematical techniques, parallelizing processing, hyperparameter tuning, and other optimization methodologies to improve model performance. Responsibilities also include collecting and preprocessing large datasets, conducting exploratory data analysis, working closely with data engineers to understand data requirements, and engineer input variables for machine learning models.
$128,960 / year median in Tennessee
Job Description
Biometrics AI/ML Engineer Oak Ridge National Laboratory life insurance, parental leave, 401(k), retirement plan, relocation assistance United States, Tennessee, Oak Ridge 1 Bethel Valley Road (Show on map) Jul 14, 2026 Requisition Id16775
This position resides in the Human Analysis and Biometrics Group in the Advanced Intelligent Systems Section, Cyber Resillience and Intelligence Division, National Security Sciences Directorate, atOak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL).
This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a 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.
Overview:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest US Department of Energy science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security. The Human Analysis and Biometrics (HAB) group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducts research, development, and deployment of human and group recognition technologies to address national security and other worldwide challenges. We are seeking a technical contributor in AI/ML research to build models and pipelines, design and implement evaluations and benchmarks, and disseminate results through publications and briefings. You will partner with multidisciplinary researchers across ORNL and external collaborators to enable data-driven decision-making in a variety of contexts.This position resides in the Human Analysis and Biometrics Group in the Advanced Intelligent Systems Section, Cyber Resillience and Intelligence Division, National Security Sciences Directorate, atOak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL).
Major Duties/Responsibilities:
Contributes to requirements definition, design, and development of software applications in supporting the needs of projects as directed by the Principal Investigator and/or software team lead. Develop AI/ML models and systems for diverse data and mission contexts Conduct independent and collaborative research in AI/ML, with a focus on multimodal learning, computer vision, and scientific machine learning Develop novel algorithms and architectures for tasks such as multimodal retrieval, reasoning over complex data, and predictive modeling Design and implement reproducible pipelines for data acquisition, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, packaging, and deployment Help the group envision, design, develop, test, and deploy human analysis and biometric recognition tools and prototypes. Conduct rigorous statistical analysis to aid in data exploration and interpretation Benchmark andT&E AI/ML
systems against performance metrics and robustness; define and implement measures of success for deployment-ready systems Disseminate results via technical reports, publications, presentations, and sponsor briefings Visualize and explain complex data and model results to technical and non-technical audiences Contribute to research proposals and statements of work Deliver ORNL's mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote equal opportunity by fostering a respectful workplace - in how we treat one another, work together, and measure successBasic Qualifications:
A BS degree in computer science, computational science, data science, artificial intelligence, or related field. Experience with agile software development methodologies such as SCRUM. Strong foundation in machine learning, deep learning, or computer vision Strong Python development skills and familiarity with git, CLI tooling, VS Code Proficiency with PyTorch and/or TensorFlow, along with other Python ML development packages; experience building, training, evaluating ML/DL models Experience implementing reproducible data/model pipelines and documenting assumptions, parameters, metrics, and resultsPreferred Qualifications:
Experience with predictive modeling and generative AI/LLMs, including RAG systems Familiarity with LLM inference servers (e.g., vLLM,Ollama) Familiarity with high-performance computing (HPC) and distributed training environments Hands-on benchmarking/Test & Evaluation of AI systems Interest in AI applications for safety, risk modeling, or scientific workflows Excellent written and oral communication skills Motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory Ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever changing needsSpecial Requirements:
Q clearance:This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a 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.