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About This Role
##### About Peraton
Peraton is a next\-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees solve the most daunting challenges that our customers face. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re keeping people around the world safe and secure.
##### About The Role
Peraton Labs is seeking a poly cleared Senior Research Scientist to support cleared research and development efforts for a Maryland\-based customer. This role will focus on designing, developing, prototyping, and evaluating SDR\-based capabilities for advanced wireless communications, networking, cyber operations, and experimentation platforms.
At Peraton Labs, you will work on mission\-focused R\&D efforts that move from research concepts to working prototypes and operationally relevant capabilities. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams of researchers, engineers, and customer stakeholders to solve complex problems involving wireless systems, signal processing, protocol analysis, networked communications, and secure communications environments.
This position requires full\-time on\-site work at a customer site near College Park, MD.
Key responsibilities may include
- Design, develop, prototype, and test Software Defined Radio capabilities for wireless communications and networking systems
- Research and implement signal processing, waveform, protocol, and radio frequency techniques to support mission\-focused experimentation
- Develop SDR applications and prototypes using tools such as GNU Radio, UHD/USRP, Python, C/C\+\+, MATLAB, Simulink, or similar
- Work with commercial and open\-source SDR platforms, including USRP, Ettus, HackRF, BladeRF, LimeSDR, or similar
- Support wireless protocol research, analysis, implementation, and experimentation across systems such as LTE, 5G, Wi\-Fi, SATCOM, MANET, tactical radio, or custom waveform environments
- Integrate SDR capabilities with Linux\-based systems, networking environments, containers, testbeds, and cyber experimentation platforms
- Conduct lab\-based testing, field testing, performance analysis, data collection, and troubleshooting of RF and SDR systems
- Analyze wireless signals, protocol behavior, RF performance, and systems teams to integrate SDR capabilities into larger prototypes
- Communicate findings, technical approaches, and prototype results through customer briefings, technical reports, whitepapers, or publications
*\*This position may be eligible for an increased sign\-on bonus. Eligibility, bonus amount, and applicable terms and conditions will be discussed during the recruiting process\**
\#MDFSP
\#PLABS26
##### Qualifications
Required qualifications
- Minimum of 6\+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree, 4\+ years of experience with a Master’s degree, or 2\+ years of experience with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field or related discipline. In lieu of a Bachelors, an additional 4 years of experience is required for a total of 10\+ years.
- 2\+ years hands\-on experience developing Software Defined Radio solutions
- Strong understanding of RF systems, wireless communications, digital signal processing, and SDR architectures
- Experience with SDR hardware such as USRP/Ettus, HackRF, BladeRF, LimeSDR, or similar platforms
- Experience working in Linux\-based development environments
- Ability to develop, test, troubleshoot, and document research prototypes
- Experience developing SDR or wireless communications using C/C\+\+, Python, GNU Radio, MATLAB, Simulink, or similar tools
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present technical concepts and research results to stakeholders
- US Citizenship is a requirement for this position
- This position requires an active/current TS/SCI w/ Polygraph
Desired Additional Qualifications
- Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field is preferred
- Experience with LTE, 5G, WiFi, SATCOM, MANET, tactical radio systems, mesh networking, or custom waveform development
- Knowledge of OpenAirInterface, srsRAN/srsLTE, Open5Gs, free5GC, Amarisoft, or similar wireless/telecom stacks
- Experience with LTE or 5G standards, including PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, NAS, or core network interfaces
- Experience with RF test equipment such as spectrum analyzers, signal generators, oscilloscopes, vector signal analyzers, channel emulators, or RF front\-end equipment
- Experience with DSP concepts such as modulation/demodulation, synchronization, filtering, channel estimation, equalization, coding, detection, and signal classification
- Experience with RFML, wireless security, protocol reverse engineering, electronic warfare, spectrum sensing, interference analysis, or RF cyber research
- Experience integrating SDR capabilities into containers, Kubernetes, virtualized environments, cyber ranges, or network experimentation testbeds.
- Experience with test automation, data analysis, and experiment orchestration using Python or similar tools
- Experience contributing to proposals, whitepapers, technical reports, peer\-reviewed publications, or customer\-facing research briefings
- Ability to serve as a technical lead or principal investigator on DoD/IC research efforts
##### Details
Target Salary Range: $135,000 \- $216,000\. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.
Benefits Statement: Peraton offers eligible employees a variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, health savings account, short/long term disability, EAP, parental leave, 401(k), paid time off (PTO) for vacation, and company paid holidays. A full listing of available benefits can be viewed at https://www.careers.peraton.com/benefits.
Application Statements: The application period for the job is estimated to be 30 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates. By applying to this job, you are expressing interest in the role and the Company. During the review of your application, you may be required to participate in an on\-camera interview, as well as participate in a process to verify your identity.
EEO: Equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veterans, or other characteristics protected by law.
Salary Context
This $135K-$216K range is below the median for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $183K across 109 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 3,823 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 3% of the market. At Peraton, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills Required
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $223,400 based on 280 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $165,000. This role's midpoint ($175K) sits 21% below the category median. Disclosed range: $135K to $216K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Engineering Manager ($275,000) and AI Safety ($274,200). By seniority level: Entry: $97,880; Mid: $165,000; Senior: $227,400; Director: $247,800; VP: $250,000.
Peraton AI Hiring
Peraton has 28 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, AI Software Engineer, Research Scientist, Data Scientist. Positions span Reston, VA, US, Laurel, MD, US, Herndon, VA, US. Compensation range: $128K - $234K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (590 positions) offer remote work, while 3,217 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (2,643 roles, $211,000 median); San Francisco (2,168 roles, $253,000 median); Los Angeles (1,792 roles, $191,580 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,823 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 112 entry-level, 1,798 mid-level, 1,516 senior, and 397 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (590 positions). The remaining 3,217 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. Highest-paying categories: AI Engineering Manager ($275,000 median, 41 roles); AI Safety ($274,200 median, 55 roles); Research Engineer ($260,000 median, 434 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,823 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,629), Data Scientist (322), AI Software Engineer (279). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (112) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,798) and senior (1,516) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 397 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (590 positions), with 3,217 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $200,100. Top-quartile roles start at $253,500, and the 90th percentile reaches $307,500. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Engineering Manager roles lead at $275,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,979 postings), Aws (1,190 postings), Azure (899 postings), Rag (839 postings), Gcp (726 postings), Pytorch (595 postings), Prompt Engineering (595 postings), Claude (540 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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