A/AI Research Engineer - E2

Standard Job Description

Focuses on research & development of technologies that enable and advance semi and fully autonomous systems for both defense and commercial customers. Serves as the algorithm expert with up-to-date knowledge on modern AI research and may be involved in the inception of ideas and drive the development cycles from research to test of prototypes for a major project or component of a major project.Researches and discovers improvements to machine learning and robotic algorithms; Drives advancements in techniques used in signal processing, computer vision (CV), and control systems; Develops AI algorithms for mission systems; Applies latest research on AI algorithms and trains machine learning / deep learning models to solve a variety of problems; Investigates and applies the latest machine learning and deep learning techniques; Optimizes the performance of AI algorithms, applications, and platforms; Develops and documents algorithm and implementation requirements; Develops prototypes that will enable autonomous functionality in LM products and platforms; Interfaces with other teams involved the development lifecycle for perception, mission and motion planning, simulation and modeling, testing, etc.

Basic Qualifications

• Demonstrated years of hands-on experience developing and deploying AI/ML solutions at scale.
• Experience with AI/ML programming languages (Python, C++, etc.)
• Demonstrated  hands‑on experience developing, fine‑tuning, or deploying large language models ( 10 B parameters).
• Demonstrated expertise in prompt/context engineering (designing, testing, and optimizing prompts for reliability, safety, and performance).
• Bachelor''s degree in a STEM or related discipline (e.g. Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, etc.)
• Research experience in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, or Image Processing.
• Experience deploying/hosting AI solutions & applications into production

Desired Skills

• UI development using applications such as Streamlit
• Design and implementation of autonomous agents (hierarchical RL, planning‑as‑search, LLM‑driven agents).
• Experience with multi‑modal perception loops, self‑reflection, and tool‑use APIs (e.g., ReAct, LangChain Agents).
• Experience with AWS core services (EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, KMS, Lambda, API Gateway) to build and secure scalable infrastructure.
• Proficiency with frameworks that support autonomous reasoning and planning, such as LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, and LlamaIndex.
• Ability to implement hybrid retrieval, semantic chunking, and GraphRAG (combining knowledge graphs with vector search).
• Proficiency in building both MCP Clients (to host models) and MCP Servers (to expose data/tools)

Pay Information

GeoZone Definition: GeoZones are geographic groupings created by Lockheed Martin to align compensation ranges with regional labor markets and cost-of-labor differences across the United States. Locations are assigned a Geo Zone based on the primary work location of the role.

• Full-time salary range (GEOZONE 1): $101400.00 - $188200.00

• Includes metropolitan areas such as Sunnyvale CA; Pal Alto, CA; New York City metropolitan area; Newark, New Jersey; etc.

• Full-time salary range (GEOZONE 2): $91200.00 - $169400.00

• Includes metropolitan areas such as Denver, CO; King of Prussia, PA; Stratford, CT; Moorestown, NJ; etc.

• Full-time salary range (GEOZONE 3): $81100.00 - $150500.00

• Includes metropolitan areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth, TX; Orlando, FL; Grand Prairie, TX; Marietta, GA; etc.

• Full-time salary range (GEOZONE 4): $72900.00 - $135500.00

• Includes metropolitan areas such as Camden, AR; Lexington, KY; Lufkin, TX; etc.

At Lockheed Martin, we know mission success starts with taking care of our people. Our Total Rewards program is designed to attract top talent, support your well-being, and help you grow-both professionally and personally.

The salary range for this position is as listed on the requisition. Please note that the salary information listed is a general guideline only.

Lockheed Martin considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate''s work experience, education/ training, key skills as well as market(work location) and business considerations when extending an offer.

Benefits offered: Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible work arrangements and schedules (e.g., 4x10), 401(k) match, Paid time off, Holidays, Parental Leave, EAP, Flexible Spending Accounts, Education Assistance, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability.

• Annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs may be offered depending on the position. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and can vary from year to year and are tied to a range of performance metrics.
• For (Washington state applicants only) Non-represented full-time employees: accrue at least 10 hours per month of Paid Time Off (PTO) to be used for incidental absences and other reasons; receive at least 90 hours for holidays. Represented full time employees accrue 6.67 hours of Vacation per month; accrue up to 52 hours of sick leave annually; receive at least 96 hours for holidays. PTO, Vacation, sick leave, and holiday hours are prorated based on start date during the calendar year.