R&D Systems Engineer, Advanced Concepts Engineering - Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
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• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

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*These benefits vary by job classification.

We are seeking an R&D S&E Systems Engineer to lead concept development (Phase 1) efforts for new missile and weapon systems. You would lead multidisciplinary teams to rapidly identify operational needs for strike and defense applications, translate those needs into mission and technology-informed requirements, and guide the concept maturation. The work would involve interfacing with potential sponsors, services, COCOMs, and OGAs to develop conceptual vehicle designs, vehicle and kill chain technology, and mission CONOPs to help them carry out their missions. The result of your work would be the identification of mission-relevant R&D, well-defined requirements for new systems, and support to government investment decisions.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Lead concept studies as PI: shape scope, develop success criteria, and direct technical approach; coordinate multidisciplinary teams.
• Develop and advise on requirements for hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles.
• Engage with COCOMS, services, and the IC to understand gaps and identify potential solutions.
• Identify gaps and risks early: quantify where concepts dont close (performance, integration, cost/schedule, producibility) and propose mitigation paths (analysis, experiments, prototypes).
• Translate operational needs into requirements: define L0/L1 requirements, interfaces, constraints, and known unknowns.
• Work with systems engineers and SMEs across many engineering disciplines
• Lead studies on mission-informed trades: connect mission objectives, kill-chain constraints, vehicle feasibility, and technology readiness.
• Communicate results to sponsors and decision makers, both technical and non-technical. This includes concise technical briefs, recommendations, and proposals (quads, one-pagers, transition plans).

Due to the nature of the work, this candidate must be able to work onsite.

$117,500 - $235,700

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance and SCI access.

The ideal Systems Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation)
• Experience working with Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) laboratories and plants including Pantex, Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLNL) and Kansas City National Security Campus/New Mexico Operations (KCNSC/NMO)
• Experience working on engineering design, qualification, production, or related modeling/simulation projects
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• 8+ years of work experience in design of hypersonic or ballistic missile systems
• Experience with systems engineering
• Experience working leading multi-disciplinary teams with SMEs to develop requirements and concepts
• Experience working with COCOMS, services, and OGAs
• Experience with taking high-level needs and deriving requirements, solutions, and a technical approach for those solutions
• Ability to communicate technical results to high-level decision makers
• Ability to engage with potential funding sponsors and write proposals
• Ability to hold a Q and SCI clearances
• Current clearance holder

Advanced Concepts Engineering, 5471, does early-phase concept development for advanced hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles for strike and defense applications. We consider the trade-space and requirements of the vehicle, the technology on-board the vehicle, the kill chain, and the mission. We are a multi-disciplinary team that collaborates with experts from across Sandia to perform our conceptual design / analysis work and derive appropriate system requirements. Our team develops and uses physics-based tools, such as RACE, Ascent, and AFSIM. Our goal is to identify needs for the nation and then highlight solutions, requirements, and R&D required to fill those gaps.

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance and SCI access, both of which require US citizenship. SCI access may also require a polygraph examination. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain these levels of access may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by the DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.