Build prototypes that isolate the question being asked, at the fidelity the question actually requires.
Run rigorous experiments — baselines, ablations, held-out evaluation, and honest error analysis — with methodology another engineer can reproduce.
Build and maintain the datasets and evaluation harnesses your area depends on, including cases that capture known failure modes.
Report results clearly, negative results included, and make a defensible recommendation to continue, pivot, or stop.
Transition validated results into production alongside product engineers, staying involved through the handoff rather than delivering a notebook.
Contribute to the scientific community through publications, open-source releases, and academic collaborations, and advise Orbis on what in the field is worth adopting.
Travel up to 20% for conferences, customer engagement, and team collaboration.
Required Qualifications
3+ years of applied research or research-engineering experience, or an M.S./Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field with equivalent applied work
Strong Python engineering skills, producing research code another engineer can read, run, and build on
Demonstrated experience designing and running experiments that produced an actionable conclusion, with methodology you can defend
Depth in at least one Orbis AI focus area: agentic AI, knowledge representation, dynamic ontologies, autonomous analysis, or high-performance analytics
Working knowledge of modern LLM and retrieval methods and their practical limitations
Clear technical writing that makes a result legible to engineers and non-specialist stakeholders alike
Willingness to travel up to 20%
Desired Qualifications
Publication record, open-source contributions, or academic collaborations in a relevant area
Experience carrying a research result all the way into a production system
Experience with knowledge graphs, ontology engineering, reasoning systems, or information extraction
Experience with agent architectures, planning, or multi-agent coordination
Experience with model training, fine-tuning, or evaluation at scale
Experience with performance engineering on data-intensive or analytical workloads
Familiarity with OSINT, intelligence, or investigative research workflows
Physical Requirements
Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
Participation in virtual and in-person meetings
Ability to attend planned meetings and/or work in classified spaces for extended periods within the specified work regions
Travel: Up to 20% for conferences, customer engagement, and team collaboration.
Orbis Benefits
Beyond the opportunity to work alongside practitioners who have operated at the mission edge, joining Orbis means real ownership over outcomes that matter; the chance to build technology that gives the United States Government and its allies a genuine decision advantage, not just another dashboard. From competitive retirement matching to a PTO policy that encourages real time off, we're committed to creating an environment where our team can do their best work and still have a life outside of it.
Our comprehensive benefits package is designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. A full list of benefits is shared with candidates following an initial conversation with our HR team, so you'll have a clear picture of the support and resources available to you as part of the Orbis team.
Orbis Locations
Orbis works in whatever arrangement the mission requires. Depending on the role, that might mean five days a week on a customer site, full-time in one of our offices, a hybrid schedule, or fully remote work; our team is spread across 25 states and four countries to match. We make sure every team member has the tools and access needed to do the work, wherever that work happens.
Travel is common across many Orbis roles, particularly those supporting customer missions in the field.
Orbis is headquartered in McLean, VA, with additional office locations in Taipei, Taiwan, and Canberra, Australia.
Orbis is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a work environment free of discrimination and harassment, and we make employment decisions based on merit,
qualifications, and business need. Orbis does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.
Orbis complies with all applicable equal opportunity and non-discrimination laws in every jurisdiction in which we operate. Reasonable accommodation is available to applicants and employees with disabilities upon request.
