Research Professorial Faculty Open Rank, AI Test and Evaluation

Job Description

The Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI) is a national leader in advancing security and resilience through innovative and applied research empowering the next generation of experts and building strategic alliances to address evolving national security challenges. We bring together exceptional interdisciplinary faculty unique research infrastructure and deep partnerships with industry and government sponsors to execute impactful research and development.

VTNSI seeks a Research Assistant Professor Research Associate Professor or Research Professor in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Test & Evaluation (T&E) to play a central leadership role in a collaborative governmentacademiaindustry research environment focused on accelerating the development assessment and transition of AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities for national security.

This position blends responsibilities traditionally associated with technical integrators chief engineers and portfolio managers requiring both deep technical expertise in AI and T&E and demonstrated leadership in managing interdisciplinary research teams coordinating stakeholders and shaping research direction in rapidly evolving mission contexts.

The successful candidate will lead and coordinate research activities supporting rapid development prototyping test & evaluation and transition of AI/ML capabilities. Academic research responsibilities will focus on advancing methods tools practices and evaluation approaches that enable rapid rigorous and operationally relevant performance assessment of AI while working closely with government and industry collaborators responsible for development prototyping and deployment.

The position operates within a dynamic research ecosystem involving multiple universities government and industry collaborators and academic students operating in collaborative on-site and distributed environments. Multiple project teams may operate concurrently often within short execution timelines (< 6 months) requiring strong coordination prioritization and technical leadership to ensure research efforts remain aligned with mission needs and enterprise-level priorities.

As a member of VTNSIs research faculty the individual will contribute to strengthening institutional capabilities in AI Test & Evaluation AI Assurance digital engineering and mission engineering while supporting growth of a sustainable research portfolio aligned to sponsor priorities.

Responsibilities include the following:
1) Technical Leadership and Research Integration: Lead the development and integration of AI Test & Evaluation research activities by translating mission needs and operational constraints into actionable evaluation strategies technical approaches and research plans; coordinating multidisciplinary teams; and addressing performance uncertainty trustworthiness and system considerations in mission-relevant environments.
2) Program Leadership and Portfolio Development: Manage an interdisciplinary research portfolio supporting rapid development prototyping T&E and transition of AI-enabled capabilities by establishing research priorities across multiple concurrent projects; aligning technical efforts with sponsor needs and institutional objectives; guiding proposal development; and contributing to sustainable growth of research programs aligned to national security priorities.
3) Collaborative Research Environment Leadership: Coordinate collaborative research activities across government academia and industry partners by facilitating integration of technical efforts among rotating faculty experts interdisciplinary researchers and external collaborators; establishing effective teaming structures and workflows; and ensuring shared understanding of research objectives evaluation approaches and mission priorities across concurrent projects.
4) Sponsor Engagement and Mission Alignment: Support sponsor engagement and research alignment activities by interacting with government partners to clarify mission needs and evaluation priorities; providing technical insight to inform research direction and execution approaches; and communicating research findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders to strengthen alignment between research outputs and mission outcomes.
5) Experiential Learning and Workforce Development: Contribute to workforce development through mentorship of students postdoctoral researchers and early-career technical staff engaged in experiential learning activities; integrating students into interdisciplinary project teams; and supporting development of practical technical and professional skills aligned with rapid AI T&E and national security mission needs.

Required Qualifications

Doctoral degree in engineering computer science mathematics statistics operations research or related technical discipline.
Demonstrated experience in AI ML or data-driven systems.
Demonstrated experience in test & evaluation experimentation validation verification or performance assessment of complex systems.
Experience leading or coordinating interdisciplinary technical teams.
Experience contributing to externally sponsored research programs.
Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts into mission-relevant research approaches.
Strong communication skills.
US citizenship and active secret clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience evaluating AI-enabled systems in operational or mission-relevant environments.
Experience serving as PI or co-PI on externally sponsored research programs.
Experience working across government academia and industry research environments.
Experience in mission engineering digital engineering modeling and simulation or systems engineering.
Experience supporting rapid prototyping or iterative capability development environments.
Experience mentoring interdisciplinary research teams.
Experience developing research proposals and establishing sponsor partnerships.
Active TS/SCI clearance.

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

Salary Commensurate with Experience

Hours per week

40 hours per week

Review Date

5/26/2026

Additional Information

Due to the nature of the Institutes work candidates must be US citizens. They must also have the ability to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its mottoUt Prosim(That I May Serve) Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world Virginia Tech is aninclusive communitydedicated to knowledge discovery and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36000 undergraduate graduate and professional students in eightundergraduate colleges aschool of medicine aveterinary medicinecollegeGraduate School andHonors College.The university has a significant presence across Virginia including Blacksburg the greater Washington D.C. area the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke sites in Newport News and Richmond and numerousExtension officesandresearch institutes.A leading global research institution Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional development opportunities and university shared governance. These valuable contributions to university shared governance provide important representation and perspective along with opportunities for unique and impactful professional development.