Sandia National Laboratories

Cleared Member/Senior R&D Systems Engineer - Instrumented Flight Test Development, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories$102K — $199K *
Aerospace & Defense
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent education and experience.
  • Active DOE Q Clearance or equivalent required.
  • Graduate degree in Engineering or related field preferred.
  • Experience within the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) is ideal.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

  • Analyze complex requirements and create actionable technical specifications.
  • Develop and maintain requirement traceability matrices throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Lead collaborative requirement reviews with cross-functional teams.
  • Partner with design and production teams to define integration plans and interfaces.
  • Assist in crafting test plans and validation strategies for product delivery.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives for requirement management processes.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on high-impact projects in national security.
  • Collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and leading external partners.
  • Work onsite in a dynamic environment in Albuquerque, NM.
  • Potential for travel to various locations up to 25%.
  • Access to advanced engineering and research tools.
Full Job Description
What Your Job Will Be Like

We are seeking a highly motivated R&D Systems Engineer to join the W76-1 Joint Test Assembly (JTA) Weapon System Team. In this role, you will contribute to the requirements definition, testing, and qualification of the new instrumented JTA flight test body for the W76-1 weapon systems.

As part of our dynamic team, you'll dive into a variety of engineering challenges¿from defining and tracing complex system requirements to planning and executing large-scale flight tests. Your work will involve close collaboration with internal Sandia teams as well as external partners at LANL, KCNSC, Pantex, NNSA, and Navy SP-28.

On any given day, you may be called on to:
  • Analyze and translate complex functional and non-functional requirements into clear, actionable technical specifications.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive requirement traceability matrices, ensuring every detail is tracked throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Lead collaborative requirement reviews with cross-functional teams to ensure requirements align with customer intent and mission needs.
  • Partner with design and production teams to define interfaces, integration plans, and ensure that designs are both manufacturable and testable.
  • Assist in crafting robust test plans and validation strategies that ensure smooth qualification and product delivery that meets surveillance mission needs.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives to refine how we gather and manage requirements, making our processes more efficient and effective.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant will be required to work onsite full-time in Albuquerque, NM and may require some travel (up to 25%.)

Salary Range

$102,400 - $199,700

*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.

Qualifications We Require

  • A bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, 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.
  • Active DOE Q Clearance or equivalent is required to start


Qualifications We Desire

The ideal R&D 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 on engineering design, qualification, or production projects within the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE).
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
  • High attention to detail to provide critical review for requirements tracing.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:
  • Strong understanding of systems engineering principles and methodologies.
  • Proven experience in requirements elicitation, analysis, and documentation.
  • Familiarity with requirements management tools (e.g., DOORS).
  • Background in nuclear weapons lifecycle and familiarity with processes within the NSE.
  • Experience working with NNSA, Department of Defense customers and contractors, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), and Pantex.
  • Effective leadership abilities, including delegation, teamwork, negotiation, conflict resolution, and coaching/mentoring skills.
  • Self-motivated and adaptable, comfortable working in a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment.
  • Commitment to fostering a culturally and technically diverse workplace.


About Our Team

Department Description for Department ID 003734 not found.

Posting Duration

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.

About Sandia National Laboratories

The Sandia National Laboratories is one of three National Nuclear Security Administration research and development laboratories in the United States, managed and operated privately by the National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia. Their primary mission is to develop, engineer, and test the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons and high technology. Headquartered on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it also has a campus in Livermore, California, next to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and a test facility in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii. It is Sandia's mission to maintain the reliability and surety of nuclear weapon systems, conduct research and development in arms control and nonproliferation technologies, and investigate methods for the disposal of the United States' nuclear weapons program's hazardous waste. Other missions include research and development in energy and environmental programs, as well as the surety of critical national infrastructures. In addition, Sandia is home to a wide variety of research including computational biology, mathematics, materials science, alternative energy, psychology, MEMS, and cognitive science initiatives. Sandia formerly hosted ASCI Red, one of the world's fastest supercomputers until its decommission in 2006, and now hosts ASCI Red Storm, originally known as Thor's Hammer. Sandia is also home to the Z Machine. The Z Machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. It is operated by Sandia National Laboratories to gather data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons. In December 2016, it was announced that National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, under the direction of Honeywell International, would take over the management of Sandia National Laboratories starting on May 1, 2017. Educational opportunities are conducted in collaboration with university students through several programs, including the Securing Top Academic Research & Talent at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program and the Sandia University Partnerships Network.
Learn more about Sandia National Laboratories
Industry
Founded
1948

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Sandia National Laboratories

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Cleared Member/Senior R&D Systems Engineer - Instrumented Flight Test Development, Onsite jobs: