Los Alamos National Laboratory

What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the R&D Engineer 2 or R&D Engineer 3 level, depending on the skills, education, and experience of the selected candidate.

Weapon system engineers are called upon to provide technical leadership and expertise to ensure the safety, reliability, and security of our Nation's nuclear stockpile for the entire weapon life cycle. The selected candidate will serve as a systems engineer within the W78 Systems Engineering Group (W-3). This position will require regular interactions with other national laboratories and production agencies (PA), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and their contractors. All W78 systems engineers will professionally collaborate with others throughout the group, division, laboratory, and Nuclear Weapons Complex, to solve complex technical and programmatic issues associated with the warhead while encouraging learning, teaming, mutual respect, and excellence at all levels. Given the scope and impact of this position, competitive candidates are expected to demonstrate a high standard of professionalism, accountability, teamwork and leadership, ethics, and technical rigor.

W-3 is seeking a weapon system engineer to work within our team to ensure the continued safety, performance, reliability, and certification of the W78 nuclear package. The scope includes serving as a component lead and participating in surveillance data reviews and/or anomalous finding investigations. The qualified individual will also work within a team to evaluate and document system requirements and qualification gaps, support technical basis activities tied to evaluation of lifetime variables, execute design and product qualification, and participate in technical risk discussions.

R&D Engineer 2 ($104,100 - $172,200)

The selected candidate will serve as a System Engineer within the W78 System Engineering Group supporting the team in having an in-depth knowledge on various components within our system, and new or ongoing technical studies. Responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Contributing to the research, design, testing, analysis, verification, and validation of engineering and technology solutions in support of R&D initiatives.
• Applying and interpreting existing discipline-specific engineering and scientific principles, techniques, methods and tools to provide solutions for a wide assortment of complex problems.
• Participating in and contributing to the completion of milestones on projects as assigned.
• Work in a team environment to address and solve problems within a system, sub-system, component or material.
• Assure safety and security compliance, maintain required safety and security training, and make safety and security an integral part of every task, including taking the necessary steps to stop work if continuing the job is unsafe or compromises security.

R&D Engineer 3 ($125,200 - $211,300)

In addition to what was outlined at the lower level, at the R&D Engineer 3 level, additional responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Contributing or being an engineering lead in any of the following areas: stockpile finding notifications (SFNs) and investigations (SFIs), and military unsatisfactory reports (URs), and overseeing of disassembly operations.
• Leading an extensive and diverse set of activities across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Designing, planning, and executing research on technical projects.
• Develop mentoring skills and mentoring junior staff and peers in technical field.
• Provide technical input to support program management deliverables in support of the W78 system, e.g., Level 2 milestones, monthly reports, work package development, and allocations

What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements:

Experience & Knowledge

• Demonstrated experience with one or more of the following areas: engineering design, development, qualification, assembly/production, or testing
• Basic knowledge of systems engineering principles (e.g., system architecture, requirements management, and the verification and validation process)
• Experience with engineering authorization and document management systems
• Technical project leadership experience including the development of and clearly defining deliverables and milestones

Skills:

• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to meet schedule and deliverables for multiple concurrent projects with a range of priorities
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication using MS Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with multi-faceted personnel including internal and external customers, as well as experience with conflict resolution
• Demonstrated ability to work with nominal supervision, as well as part of a team in a multi-disciplinary environment, and to interact effectively with a variety of organizations
• Demonstration of strong problem-solving processes
• Demonstrated ability to meet schedule and deliverables for technical projects

Additional Job Requirements for R&D Engineer 3

In addition to the Job Requirements outlined above, qualification at the R&D Engineer 3 level requires:

• Developing system- through component-level requirements and assuring adherence to requirements
• Demonstrated leadership and management of projects
• Knowledge of systems engineering and requirements management principles and processes
• Advanced knowledge and experience with product design engineering phases to include Development Engineering (Conceptual and Baseline Design) and/or Production Engineering
• Prior experience with the W78 or other weapon systems detailed design and testing which may include any of the following:
  • ground testing, flight testing, hydrodynamic testing, or materials testing.
  • weapon assembly techniques and/or component fabrication.
  • weapon system mechanical and electrical interfaces.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with nuclear weapon design
• Experience with assembly practices and design for manufacturing
• Experience with, modeling, or analysis tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Abaqus, Ansys)
• Experience with nuclear weapon qualification and certification activities
• Knowledge of LANL policies and procedures
• Knowledge of the broader nuclear security enterprise (NSE) mission & capabilities and demonstrated experience interacting with customers
• Ability to read and interpret engineering design drawings and effectively apply fundamental problem analysis
• Knowledge of model-based systems engineering (MBSE)
• Seasoned experience interacting with and presenting to senior-level management and customers
• An advanced degree in mechanical, electrical, materials engineering
• Derivative classifier
• Active Q clearance, or the ability to obtain an active Q clearance

Education/Experience:

R&D Engineer 2: The position requires a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution and 4 years of related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.

R&D Engineer 3: The position requires a Master's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution and 6 years of related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation. At this level a Ph.D. may be preferred.

Work Environment:

Work Location: The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.

Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year.

Note to Applicants:

• For full consideration, submit a resume/CV and detailed cover letter addressing all required and desired skills outlined above. (Please save cover letter with job number and name).
• A frequent amount of travel may be required due to programmatic complexity and frequent interactions with various National Security Enterprise (NSE) PAs, NNSA and United States Air Force customers.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Where You Will Work

Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:

• PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
• Dental and vision insurance
• Free basic life and disability insurance
• Paid childbirth and parental leave
• Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
• Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
• Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
• Onsite gyms and wellness programs
• Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)

Additional Details

Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.

Clearance: Q(Position will be cleared to this level). Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance. and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad.

• Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.

New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.

Regular position: Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular-status positions are converted to regular status.

Internal Applicants: Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.

Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to applyhelp@lanl.gov or call (505)-664-6947.

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