What Your Job Will Be Like

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking an enthusiastic and strategic leader to serve as the R&D Manager for the newly envisioned Space Control Futures Department (6376). The Space Mission Program (Center 6300) continues to experience rapid growth in the space control mission area, with significant momentum emerging in recent months and driving a corresponding increase in work across the Space Mission Engineering Program Office (SMEPO). This program manager will be central to shaping the future of space control at Sandia¿leading delivery for sponsors, strengthening sponsor relationships through execution excellence, and identifying new opportunities.

Given this recent expansion, Space Control Futures organization now requires a manager who can successfully and simultaneously balance execution of a growing project portfolio, development of strong sponsor relationships through technical excellence and engagement and continued internal talent development and strategic hiring to position the team to deliver on today's commitments and prepare for the future.

Working in close partnership with the SMEPO program office, the selected candidate will help translate emerging mission opportunities into executable work, while ensuring strong coordination across program development, project execution, and team growth in this evolving mission area.

The ideal candidate combines technical credibility with program development acumen, bringing experience across space control disciplines and familiarity with DoD and intelligence community sponsor environments, and the ability to cultivate new partnerships. You will be responsible for building and leading a team of scientists and engineers whose expertise may span physics, systems engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, RF, cyber, data science, and computer science. Your leadership will ensure technical excellence while positioning SMEPO for sustainable growth and increased mission impact.

On any given day, you may be asked to:

• Set strategic direction by aligning technical capabilities with emerging mission needs and influencing investment priorities.
• Lead execution of a growing portfolio of space control work, ensuring projects are delivered on schedule and to Sandia's standards of quality.
• Build and sustain sponsor relationships through strong technical delivery, active engagement, and identification of new or adjacent opportunities for Sandia support.
• Collaborate with peer managers and program offices to deliver modeling, simulation, analysis, software, and hardware products to defense and intelligence community sponsors¿on schedule and to Sandia's standards of quality.
• Manage and mentor a team of innovative scientists and engineers, including recruiting, retention, performance management, engagement, career development, and aligning staff skills with project needs.
• Help shape the future portfolio by working with sponsors and internal partners to identify emerging needs and position Sandia for continued growth in space control.
• Travel for sponsor meetings and offsite engagements (approximately every 4¿8 weeks).

For 75 years, Sandia has delivered on its charter, as outlined by President Truman in 1949: "To render exceptional service in the national interest." This role requires a growth mindset and a forward-looking perspective to imagine what Sandia can deliver for national security in the future. Program management roles such as this are strong steppingstones to broader leadership opportunities.

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

Salary Range

$163,700 - $278,000

*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 eight (8) 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 and SCI clearance.

Qualifications We Desire

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

• Two or more years of demonstrated leadership experience.
• A graduate degree in science or engineering (M.S. or Ph.D.).
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to build trusting relationships with peers, staff, management, customers, and stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including developing and delivering presentations, proposals, reports, and technical documentation.

Additional experience desired for this role:

• Experience managing spacecraft and/or ground station research and development programs.
• A working understanding of relevant space control disciplines.
• Familiarity with modeling and simulation environments for mission analysis and astrodynamics (e.g., STK) and wargaming tools (e.g., AFSIM).
• Experience in technical program development, including cultivating sponsor relationships, identifying new opportunities, and securing future work in national security space missions.
• Experience supporting DoD and intelligence community sponsors in space control mission areas, with an understanding of how Sandia, as an FFRDC, should effectively engage in this mission environment.
• Demonstrated ability to develop innovative, forward-looking approaches that address unmet mission needs and create new opportunities for Sandia.
• Experience leading technical product development teams in the delivery of high rigor systems meeting sponsor requirements.
• Line management experience, including career guidance, recruiting and hiring, performance management, and staff development.
• Demonstrated ability to initiate and build new teams to address emerging national technology needs.
• Experience in engineering project management, including cost, schedule, and performance oversight, ideally with exposure to DoD acquisition-gate processes and Agile methodologies.

About Our Team

The Space Control Futures Department (6376) advances Sandia's space control mission by developing and delivering high-rigor modeling, simulation, analysis, software, and hardware capabilities for defense and intelligence community sponsors. Working in close partnership with the Space Mission Engineering Program Office (SMEPO) and across Center 6300, the department aligns emerging sponsor needs with Sandia's technical strengths to shape future space control solutions and investments. Its work spans multiple disciplines¿including physics, systems engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, data science, computer science, cyber and RF¿and emphasizes end-to-end mission impact: from concept development and mission analysis/astrodynamics and wargaming to engineered products and operationally relevant demonstrations. Through strong sponsor engagement, disciplined project execution, and a forward-looking approach to unmet mission needs, 6376 helps position Sandia for sustained growth and leadership in national security space.

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.