Virtual Hiring Event - Software Engineers

Overview

Great minds meet great challenges.

Ready to build the AI platform that reduces discovery cycles from years to months?

Join PNNL on the frontier of cutting edge science! PNNL is hiring Software Engineers to help stand up the next wave of AI-enabled science and security capabilities—where agentic AI, petabyte-scale data, and real-time intelligence processing come together in production-grade systems. It’s building the AI-native platforms, orchestration frameworks, and secure infrastructure that will power a nationwide effort to integrate world-class computing and scientific data into a unified AI system that accelerates breakthroughs for energy, national security, and critical technologies. You’ll help connect advanced computing with real operational needs: building custom tools, integrating multi-modal data, enabling autonomous workflows, and delivering systems that can run in secure and mission-critical environments.

You’ll play a key role in delivering innovative, mission‑driven work such as:
• Design and deploy scalable agentic AI systems with autonomous workflows and complex decision-making
• Build LLM orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, LangGraph, etc.) and production-ready developer tooling
• Engineer petabyte-scale pipelines and real-time streaming platforms handling terabytes per hour
• Deliver monitoring/observability (logging, metrics, tracing) and security-first
• DevSecOps across secure enclaves
• Build end-to-end MLOps: model versioning, deployment, monitoring, and AI governance

We’re hosting a virtual hiring event, giving you the opportunity to connect directly with our hiring teams and explore how your skills align with our work.

Event Details

Our virtual hiring event will take place during the week of April 27, 2026.

All applications are reviewed based on job-related skills, qualifications, and experience.

Selected candidates may be invited to participate in virtual technical interviews during this timeframe and will be contacted directly with scheduling details.

Apply your skills to meaningful work across our mission driven focus areas

National Security Directorate (NSD)
Build resilient, secure software and data systems that support high-consequence missions—where performance, reliability, and security are critical.

Energy and Environment Directorate (EED)
Develops software and data-driven solutions to modernize energy systems, improve grid resilience, and advance renewable energy and environmental sustainability.

Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate (PCSD)
Engineer platforms that accelerate scientific computing and discovery—connecting large-scale computing with data-rich scientific workflows (aligned with DOE’s integrated AI platform vision).

Responsibilities

Skills We’re Seeking:
• Programming & Systems Development: Python and multi-language development (C++, Go, C#/.NET, TypeScript) for high-performance systems supporting scientific and ML applications
• Software Engineering & DevOps: CI/CD, testing, version control, and open-source practices enabling reliable, reproducible systems across research and production
• System Architecture & Distributed Systems: Design of modular, scalable, and distributed systems for data-intensive scientific and operational workloads
• Machine Learning & LLM Systems: Development of deep learning and LLM-based systems (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX), including RAG pipelines, and agent architectures
• Agentic AI & Intelligent Workflows: Design of agent-based systems with memory, tool use, inter-agent communication, and multi-modal data integration for scientific and real-world tasks
• LLM Evaluation & Reliability: Evaluation frameworks for model performance, including task success, faithfulness, latency, and robustness under realistic workloads
• Data Engineering & Pipeline Architecture: Design of scalable data systems (ETL, data lakes, data meshes) supporting large-scale scientific and production data workflows
• Streaming & Event-Driven Systems: Real-time data processing using Kafka, Flink, and Spark Streaming for high-throughput, low-latency applications
• Cloud-Native & Distributed Computing: Deployment across AWS, Azure, and GCP, including cloud services (S3, EC2), REST APIs, and infrastructure for large-scale compute, simulation, and ML workloads
• Containerization & Orchestration: Kubernetes and container-based systems for scalable, portable environments across research and production contexts
• ML Systems Deployment & Production: Model serving, monitoring, scaling, and lifecycle management for deployed ML systems
• Scientific Computing & Domain Integration: Application of software and ML systems to scientific domains through collaboration with domain experts, enabling data-driven discovery and mission impact
• Cloud Cost Optimization & Efficiency: Resource optimization, cost allocation, and predictive modeling of compute usage for large-scale experiments and ML systems

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
• PhD and 1 year of Software Engineering experience -OR-
• MS/MA and 3 years of Software Engineering experience -OR-
• BS/BA and 5 years of Software Engineering experience -OR
• AA and 14 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development -OR-
• HS/GED and 16 years of Software Engineering experience in designing, architecting, programming, deploying, and automating software solutions in support of scientific research or consumer digital product development

Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment

Not Applicable

Additional Information

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.

A security clearance background investigation includes review of your employment, education, financial, and criminal history, as well as interviews with you and your personal references, neighbors, and co-workers to determine trustworthiness, reliability, and loyalty to the United States. The investigation also examines your foreign connections, drug and alcohol use, foreign influence, and overall conduct.

Requirements:
• U.S. Citizenship
• Background Investigation: Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
• Drug Testing: All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the applicant selected for hire is subject to pre-employment drug testing, and post-employment random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).

Note: Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy if non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months cannot be demonstrated.

“Referral Eligible”

Testing Designated Position

This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.

About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven people come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!

At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, and flexible work schedules. PNNL is located in eastern Washington State—the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living. The Lab’s campus is only a 45-minute flight (or ~3 hour drive) from Seattle or Portland, and is serviced by the convenient PSC airport, connected to 8 major hubs.

Commitment to Excellence and Equal Employment Opportunity

Our laboratory is committed to fostering a work environment where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect while solving critical challenges in fundamental sciences, national security, and energy resiliency. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. PNNL considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), protected veteran status, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local laws.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures and in employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, contact us at careers@pnnl.gov.

Drug Free Workplace

PNNL is committed to a drug-free workplace supported by Workplace Substance Abuse Program (WSAP) and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs.

If you are offered employment at PNNL, you must pass a drug test prior to commencing employment. PNNL complies with federal law regarding illegal drug use. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you test positive for any illegal controlled substance, including marijuana, your offer of employment will be withdrawn.

Security, Credentialing, and Eligibility Requirements

As a national laboratory, PNNL is responsible for adhering to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, which require new employees to obtain and maintain a HSPD-12 Personal Identify Verification (PIV) Credential. To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete the applicable tier of federal background investigation post hire and receive a favorable federal adjudication. The tier of federal background investigation will be determined by job duties and national security or public trust responsibilities associated with the job. All tiers of investigation include a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last 1 to 7 years (depending on the applicable tier of investigation). Illegal drug activities include marijuana and cannabis derivatives, which are still considered illegal under federal law, regardless of state laws.

For foreign national candidates

If you have not resided in the U.S. for three consecutive years, you are not eligible for the PIV credential and instead will need to obtain a favorable Local Site Specific Only (LSSO) Federal risk determination to maintain employment. Once you meet the three-year residency requirement thereafter, you will be required to obtain a PIV credential to maintain employment. The tier of federal background investigation required to obtain the PIV credential will be determined by job duties at the time you become eligible for the PIV credential.

Mandatory Requirements

Please be aware that the Department of Energy (DOE) prohibits DOE employees and contractors from having any affiliation with the foreign government of a country DOE has identified as a “country of risk” without explicit approval by DOE and Battelle. If you are offered a position at PNNL and currently have any affiliation with the government of one of these countries, you will be required to disclose this information and recuse yourself of that affiliation or receive approval from DOE and Battelle prior to your first day of employment.

Rockstar Rewards

Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan* and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.
• Research Associates excluded.
• *All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.

Click Here For Rockstar Rewards

Notice to Applicants

PNNL lists the full pay range for the position in the job posting. Starting pay is calculated from the minimum of the pay range and actual placement in the range is determined based on an individual’s relevant job-related skills, qualifications, and experience. This approach is applicable to all positions, with the exception of positions governed by collective bargaining agreements and certain limited-term positions which have specific pay rules.

As part of our commitment to fair compensation practices, we do not ask for or consider current or past salaries in making compensation offers at hire. Instead, our compensation offers are determined by the specific requirements of the position, prevailing market trends, applicable collective bargaining agreements, pay equity for the position type, and individual qualifications and skills relevant to the performance of the position.

Minimum Salary

USD $133,100.00/Yr.
Maximum Salary

USD $210,400.00/Yr.