What Your Job Will Be Like

We are seeking a R&D S&E, Mechanical Engineering to support our data acquisition and instrumentation efforts in the Measurement Science & Engineering Department. You will work with an innovative team of technologists and engineers on a variety of measurement projects in support of destructive and complex mechanical testing in Tech Area III and other remote locations. Testing includes rocket sled track, cable pull-down, explosive blasts, guided gravity drops, and combined-environments centrifuge tests at Sandia's very rare test facilities. You should enjoy working in both the laboratory and field and have strong technical analysis skills and engineering practices.

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

• Interact with customers and various testing organizations to define data collection requirements.
• Design and implement data acquisition schemes for complex and often destructive test environments.
• Ensure data integrity through careful test design, setup, and execution.
• Perform post test data analysis and reporting in support of various qualification efforts.
• Lead a skilled team of technologists in daily tasking and operational activities.
• Work both independently and with a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and business professionals
  to craft, implement and analyze design studies and experiments.
• Hands on test setup and diagnosis in both indoor and outdoor test facilities.

To learn more about the work we do, please visit https://photometrics.web.sandia.gov/photometrics/videos (internal candidates) or http://tiny.sandia.gov/9xyzi (all candidates).

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Salary Range

$138,600 - $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.

Qualifications We Require

• A 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.
• Current and active DOE Q-clearance

Qualifications We Desire

The ideal R&D candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will, in addition, possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g. independent project, thesis, or dissertation)
• Experience with mechanical engineering and product realization in the NNSA complex
• 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:

• Experience with collection and/or analysis of signals from transducers, such as force, pressure, acceleration, strain, timing, and/or temperature sensors
• Experience with signal processing, data analysis, or data manipulation, in software languages such as MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, and C++
• Knowledge using Video Synthesis and Data Fusion
• Knowledge of instrumentation and data acquisition
• Experience with transducers (e.g. accelerometers, pressure gauges, load cells, etc.)
• Ability to discover, understand, and articulate customer data requirements
• Experience planning and executing technical projects
• Experience in troubleshooting and diagnosis of instrumentation equipment and signal anomalies
• Ability to solve problems in a highly collaborative environment
• Experience managing interfaces, requirements, and integrated testing
• Experience designing assembly and subassembly level electrical hardware
• Electrical hardware packaging experience
• Working knowledge of optical and mechanical engineering
• Experience with cable fabrication
• Knowledge of the use, distribution, and potential variances and hazards of electrical current.
• Ability to read and understand blueprints, drawings, layouts, and other related specifications.
• Experience with test and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, and delay generators
• Willingness to work in an outdoor field test environment in all types of weather
• Willingness to work around explosives, propellants, lasers, and other controlled and mitigated natural and test induced hazards
• Proficiency with basic electrical/electronics assembly skills, soldering, and troubleshooting both at the system and component level

About Our Team

The Measurement Sciences and Engineering Department is responsible for collecting and analyzing the data that is delivered to ND and SPP customers for tests carried out at locations including sled tracks, aerial cable facilities, blast tubes, thermal/fire science facilities, mechanical shock, drop towers, and other Sandia owned testing capabilities in addition to test facilities outside Sandia. We specialize in data collection for testing that ranges from small to large scale.

The Measurement Science & Engineering department (1535) is a multi-disciplinary group that provides cutting edge imaging and instrumentation measurements for large and small-scale test work supporting Sandia National Security Mission. Our work includes R&D developing innovative quantitative imaging measurements and contact instrumentation measurements that work in harsh conditions, field deployment of measurement systems, data collection, and data analysis. We collaborate with many national laboratories and facilities, providing our customers with critical data and information for model validation, hardware qualification, and engineering development.

Learn more about the large-scale tests we support: https://www.sandia.gov/vqsec/overview/

You will be directly supporting the Photometrics, Instrumentation, and Electrical Team. Learn more about what we do at: https://www.sandia.gov/vqsec/capabilities/

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.

Security Clearance

Position requires a Department of Energy (DOE) Q security clearance to start, or equivalent active security clearance with another U.S. government agency (e.g., DOD). Sandia is required by DOE directive 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 maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance 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 DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.