Manager, Applied Research

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Coordination

Must-Have Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field; PhD preferred. Bachelor’s with exceptional experience considered.
• 7+ years of experience in ML engineering or applied research , with at least 5+ years in a people management role overseeing engineers and/or applied scientists.
• Strong production ML expertise : model selection, deployment, inference optimization, and operational ownership. Experience spans traditional ML and applied deep learning; Not a LLM-focused role.
• Proven ability to review, direct, and contribute to a production codebase.
• Experience driving cross-functional alignment across engineering, research, and product stakeholders in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment.
• Heavy experience in 3D reconstruction, computer vision, or spatial computing domains (e.g., NeRF, 3D Gaussian Splatting, SLAM, SfM, or related techniques).
• Willingness to work in a hybrid capacity from our Technology Center in Columbia, Maryland, or willing to relocate.
• This position is not eligible for H-1B sponsorship.
• Meet Quidient, customer, and government security requirements, which may include, but are not limited to a background check, citizenship verification, and Criminal Justice Information Services verification.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications:

• Background in light transport, physically-based rendering, or GPU-accelerated compute.
• Experience with pose estimation, SLAM, or multi-view reconstruction
• Track record of shipping ML in production in a latency-sensitive or hardware-constrained environment.
• Prior experience at a deep tech startup or in a defense/government-adjacent technology context.
• Scientist or applied researcher who has successfully transitioned into an engineering leadership role.

Compensation:

• Salary Range: $200,000 – $270,000.
• Annual bonus and equity as appropriate.

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• HSA Account
• 401(k) with company match
• Life & disability insurance
• Paid holidays & generous PTO
• Opportunities for bonuses, equity, and career growth

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement