Senior Technical Project Manager, Software Engineer and AI

Overview At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget. Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Integrated Discovery Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The National Security Directorate (NSD) drives science-based, mission-focused solutions to take on complex, real-world threats to our nation and the world. The AI and Data Analytics Division, part of NSD, combines profound domain expertise and creative integration of advanced hardware and software to deliver computational solutions that address complex data and analytic challenges. Working in multidisciplinary teams, we connect foundational research to engineering to operations, providing the tools to innovate quickly and field results faster.

Our strengths are integrated across the data analytics lifecycle, from data acquisition and management to analysis and decision support. Responsibilities We are seeking a Senior Technical Project Manager to lead software implementation projects from conception through operations and sustainment. The ideal candidate brings national security domain knowledge, software engineering or data science expertise, applied AI and proficiency in agile project management, with proven ability to manage scope, schedule, budget, and stakeholder expectations.

Key Responsibilities: Drive technical program strategy and end-to-end execution across software engineering, data science, and AI/ML initiatives—from roadmap development and project initiation through deployment, operations transition, and sustainment handoff—delivering mission-critical outcomes across agentic AI, data platforms, cloud infrastructure, and software systems Partner directly with sponsors—to understand mission needs and translate them into practical technical strategies Lead and mentor engineering teams, guide critical technical decisions, and establish practices that turn research and prototypes into reliable operational capabilities Own integrated planning and controls—scope, schedule, budget, milestones, resourcing, and governance—delivering clear, actionable status reporting and documented decisions Apply agile practices to support iterative software delivery, data science experimentation, and development cycles Collaborate with Technical Leads, Architects, Principal Investigators, Data Scientists, and SMEs to drive execution, resolve blockers, and align technical decisions with program objectives Maintain project artifacts in Jira/Confluence (backlogs, roadmaps, decision logs, action items, dependency tracking) Identify and mitigate risks and issues across scope, technical execution, data quality, model performance, ML-Ops readiness, security/compliance, and deployment Serve as primary stakeholder interface, translating mission objectives into executable plans and managing expectations on progress, risks, and tradeoffs This position is based in Richland, WA or Seattle, WA and requires an onsite presence.

Qualifications Minimum Qualifications: BS/BA and 11+ years of relevant project management experience -OR- MS/MA or higher and 9+ years of relevant project management experience Experience managing software engineering, analytics, AI/ML, or data science projects in technically complex environments, including experimentation, validation, deployment, and operationalization Preferred Qualifications: Degree in computer science, data science, information technology, engineering, or a related technical field.

Experience with National Security or federal government projects. Demonstrated success with cross-functional teams (software engineers, data scientists, researchers, SMEs). Experienced in agile delivery methodologies an