Principal Advisor, AI and Analytics

Overview

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The National Security Directorate (NSD) drives science-based, mission-focused solutions to take on complex,real-world threats to our nation and the world.

The AI and Data Analytics Division, part of the NSD, combines profound domain expertise and creative integration of advanced hardware and software to deliver computational solutions that address complex data and analytic challenges. Working in multidisciplinary teams, we connect foundational research to engineering to operations, providing the tools to innovate quickly and field results faster. Our strengths are integrated across the data analytics lifecycle, from data acquisition and management to analysis and decision support.

The Principal Advisor, AI and Analytics is a senior, highly collaborative role at the intersection of cutting‑edge technology and national security. Based in Washington, DC, you will be a strategic connector—bringing together PNNL’s AI, data science, and analytics teams with U.S. Government sponsors, other national labs, industry, and academia.

You will facilitate the creation of programs that apply AI and analytics to the nation’s most challenging security problems. Drawing on deep mission understanding and technical fluency, you will orchestrate cross‑organizational teams, shape R&D directions, and help modernize analytic production. You will regularly engage senior leaders across national security government agencies as a trusted advisor on AI and emerging technologies.

This role is ideal for a collaborative leader who thrives on pulling together diverse experts—analysts, scientists, engineers, and policymakers—to solve problems no single organization can tackle alone.

In this role, you will:

• Connect missions and capabilities
  • Maintain deep, current knowledge of PNNL’s AI, data science, and analytics portfolio and actively connect these capabilities to sponsor mission needs through joint working sessions, meetings, and collaborative forums.
  • Serve as a primary liaison between senior sponsor leadership and PNNL project teams in DC, Seattle, and Richland, ensuring two‑way translation of mission needs and technical possibilities.
• Lead collaborative solution development
  • Convene and lead multidisciplinary teams from PNNL, sponsor organizations, other national labs, industry, and academia to co‑develop visionary AI‑ and analytics‑enabled solutions to sponsors’ hardest problems.
  • Build consensus and advocacy for implementation by aligning technical approaches with policy, operational, and acquisition realities.
• Shape strategy and R&D investments
  • Leverage deep knowledge of sponsor missions, day‑to‑day operations, and analytic tradecraft to jointly define problem sets, success criteria, and roadmaps for new starts and major initiatives.
  • Provide authoritative technical and policy insight to PNNL and sponsor leadership on AI and emerging technologies, informing internal R&D investment and external program strategy.
  • Co‑develop strategies for PNNL’s AI, data science, and analytics portfolio that incorporate emerging national and international trends and lessons learned from collaborative efforts.
• Enhance analytic production and tradecraft
  • Improve PNNL’s analytic products by mentoring others on state‑of‑the‑art analytic tradecraft and processes.
  • Advocate for and support improved analytic tradecraft standards, ensuring AI‑ and data‑enabled products are rigorous, policy‑relevant, and accessible to senior consumers.
• Build and sustain communities and partnerships
  • Organize and host visiting government and industry teams at PNNL’s DC, Richland, and Seattle facilities, designing engagements as…