Senior/Principal R&D Aerospace 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
• Extraordinary co-workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• 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*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

We are seeking an experienced R&D S&E, Aerospace Engineering to lead the rapid vehicle concept development process for hypersonic and ballistic missiles. You would focus on leading analysis and development efforts with the RACE workflow. This tool includes analysis with OML trades, aero-thermal analyses, packaging, weight and balance, control surface sizing, trajectories, mission performance assessments, and trade space analyses. You would work with SMEs across a variety of aerospace disciplines to accomplish the work and ensure that the concepts produced are feasible and meet requirements. You would also be in charge of leading the connection of these capabilities to the larger concept develop process which starts at need identification and ends at identified R&D gaps or preliminary designs.

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

• Perform concept development and trade space exploration for hypersonic and ballistic missile vehicles for hypersonic and ND applications.
• Execute the RACE workflow for vehicle concept development.
• Leverage aero-thermal models and codes within the RACE workflow.
• Run basic CFD, trajectory, and other codes for concept exploration.
• Work with SMEs in aerodynamics, thermal, mechanical, systems engineering, etc. to validate code, validate the results, and find solutions to roadblocks in the designs.
• Maintain the code base or work with code maintainers for RACE.
• Work to improve the general vehicle concept trade space and the speed / fidelity at which we can deliver results.
• Work with others in the center to improve the vehicle concept process, including working with experts in WSTAT, MBSE, AFSIM, etc.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant 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 (or DOD equivalent) and an SCI clearance.

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

• Graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Experience in applied aerodynamics, flight mechanics, or trajectory simulation with application to the design, modeling, simulation, optimization, and analysis of aerospace flight systems.
• Experience with the capabilities, use, and application of MATLAB, Simulink, Python, C/C++, or other modern programming languages and repositories in technical analysis/computing and software development.
• Proven ability to work and communicate effectively in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced/schedule driven environment.

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

• 5+ years of work experience in aero and/or thermal modeling codes
• Ability to perform trade-space exploration for concept phase studies
• Experience working leading multi-disciplinary teams with SMEs to develop requirements and concepts
• Ability to develop code in Python and Matlab
• Experience with version control, verification and validation
• Experience with optimization
• Ability to communicate technical results to high-level decision makers
• Experience engaging with potential sponsors and writing proposals
• Ability to hold a Q and SCI clearances
• Experience with HPCs
• Current clearance holder

Advanced Concepts Engineering, 5471, does early-phase concept development for advanced missiles, sensors, and related systems to find designs that are survivable and meet mission performance requirements. We are a multi-disciplinary team that collaborates with experts from across Sandia to perform our conceptual design and analysis work. Our team develops and uses physics-based tools, such as RACE, Ascent, and AFSIM. We leverage RACE as a part of rapid exploration of new vehicle designs, including internal and external layouts. We use Ascent and AFSIM for helping our scrimmage and mission analyses to discover how new vehicles, technologies, and/or mission concepts will perform in heavily contested future environments. These scrimmage and mission analyses include evaluating detection, tracking, engaging, and other kill chain algorithms to explore performance of both U.S. and adversary systems.

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.