ME00657-Data Scientist 3 at Momentum Engineering, Inc.
Fort Meade, MD
$135,000–$180,000
Aug 6, 2026
Fort Meade, MD
Sep 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role supports national-security intelligence missions by applying data science and AI/ML techniques to optimize analytical workflows, automate collection processing, and build Python-based tools for data retrieval, aggregation, and visualization. Candidates will develop APIs, geospatial products, and reusable automation capabilities while collaborating with analysts and mission stakeholders. A strong Python data engineering background is the core requirement; direct AI/ML collection-processing experience is preferred but not mandatory.
Senior level · 6+ years · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $122,874 (middle half $87,544–$162,374).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 8, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
Location is not stated in the posting. The NSA Full Scope Polygraph requirement strongly implies work at or near NSA headquarters in the Fort Meade, MD area (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD CBSA), but this is inferred, not stated.
The degree requirement is tiered: Master's + 6 years, Bachelor's + 8 years, or Associate's + 10 years of relevant experience. Because each tier accepts a lower degree paired with more experience, no single minimum degree is hard-gated — equivalent experience paths exist at every level. Total years minimum is set to 6 (the lowest stated threshold, paired with a Master's).
XKS/DX proficiency is listed under Desired Qualifications and appears to reference classified NSA-specific tooling; it is captured as a preferred skill but omitted from the skills list as it is not a publicly named commercial technology.
The posting mentions 'Elastic' and 'Kibana' separately under desired qualifications; both are captured individually.
The role is titled 'AI/ML Data Scientist' but the posting explicitly states candidates with strong data science backgrounds may be considered without direct AI/ML experience — the core gate is Python data engineering, making the SOC classification a genuine judgment call between 15-2051 (Data Scientists) and 15-1252 (Software Developers).
The NSA Full Scope Polygraph is a hard gate explicitly stated under Required Qualifications, making this one of the most restrictive clearance requirements possible.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
The employer publishes the full description on their own site — read it there ↗. Or sign in to read it here — it's free, and it also lets you track this application.