Research Scientist – Machine Learning & AI

About the role

The Kostas Research Institute at Northeastern University seeks a motivated Research & Development Engineer with strong expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence. You will join a multidisciplinary team to develop prototypes and solutions for autonomous systems, robotics, and advanced decision‑support tools.

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement, and test ML/AI‑enabled software components for a variety of projects.
• Collaborate with academic and industry partners to create prototypes in autonomous systems, cognitive sensing, and distributed learning.
• Contribute to software R&D activities, including prototype modeling, simulation, and validation (approximately 90% of effort).
• Provide technical expertise for proposals, publications, and whitepapers.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics or related field.
• 2–4 years of professional experience in software engineering, data science, or applied R&D with exposure to ML/AI development.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a security clearance.

Required skills

• Proficiency in Python and modern ML/AI workflows.
• Experience with PyTorch (model training, evaluation, experimentation).
• Familiarity with C++ and/or Java for performance‑critical code.
• Knowledge of GPU‑enabled and distributed computing environments.
• Working knowledge of relational databases (PostgreSQL/SQL) and graph databases (Neo4j, Memgraph).
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GovCloud) and containerized ML pipelines.

What we offer

• Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, dental, paid time off, and retirement plans with generous matching.
• Tuition waiver for classes and advanced degree programs.
• Access to state‑of‑the‑art research facilities at the NU Innovation Campus.