Senior Machine Learning Engineer II (EO/IR Image Analysis) Verified today
About Rocket Lab Optical Systems
Rocket Lab Optical Systems solves mission-critical space domain and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance challenges for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers. We deliver electro-optical and infrared systems innovation for responsive, scalable sensing solutions across all orbital domains.
The Role
As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer II for Rocket Lab Optical Systems in Chantilly, VA, you will support Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency's (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) by building deep learning neural networks for advanced Electro-Optical (EO/IR) image processing.
What You Will Do
- Design, train, and deploy machine learning models for Optical Systems applications
- Build and maintain ML pipelines for data ingestion, feature engineering, training, and inference
- Collaborate with researchers and engineers on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision
- Perform rapid prototyping and enhanced development to be integrated into operational systems
- Troubleshoot, debug, and maintain existing and new systems
- Stay current with ML research and evaluate new tools, frameworks, and techniques
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of experience, or Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related field
- Strong background in machine learning including model selection, architecting, training, validation, testing, and deployment
- Experience building deep learning neural networks for computer vision, image processing, or video analysis (e.g., object detection, image segmentation, tracking)
- Strong math background, particularly linear algebra
- Proficiency in Python
- Experience with deep learning libraries (Keras, TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.)
- Software engineering fundamentals: version control, testing, CI/CD, containerization
- U.S. citizenship required due to program requirements
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance
Preferred Qualifications
- Proficiency in C/C++/Rust
- Experience curating quality, real-world datasets for training deep learning models
- TS/SCI security clearance
Compensation
- Base Salary: $153,000 to $204,000 USD
- Total Compensation (base and equity): $130,000 to $229,100 USD
- Equity grant value designed around function, level, and experience; realized value depends on vesting and stock-price performance
Benefits
Comprehensive package includes Employee Stock Purchase Program (15% discount), medical, dental, vision, paid vacation and sick time, 11 paid holidays, flexible spending and dependent care accounts, paid parental leave, disability and life insurance, 401(k) with company match, and additional discounts and perks.
Working Conditions
This position may require prolonged periods of sitting, standing, walking, computer work, and occasional exposure to moderate levels of noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.