Los Alamos National Laboratory

Weapon Systems Surveillance Engineer (R&D Engineer 3)

Los Alamos National Laboratory$128K — $215K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's Degree in Engineering or equivalent with 6+ years of experience; Ph.D. preferred
  • Experience in nuclear systems, aerospace, defense, or similar regulated environments
  • Proven ability to lead technical projects and coordinate across organizations
  • Strong skills in evaluating technical data and spotting trends or anomalies
  • Excellent communication skills for technical documentation and stakeholder engagement

Responsibilities

  • Plan and execute surveillance activities for W88 system components
  • Translate surveillance requirements into actionable test directions
  • Lead qualifications for surveillance tests and develop necessary documentation
  • Evaluate surveillance data to assess system health and identify aging trends
  • Prepare and present annual surveillance summaries to stakeholders
  • Investigate anomalies reported during surveillance activities
  • Coordinate with engineers to identify and recommend improvements to surveillance methods

Benefits

  • PPO or High Deductible medical insurance
  • Dental and vision insurance
  • Free life and disability insurance
  • Paid parental leave
  • Robust 401(k) plan with matching contributions
  • Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
  • Flexible work schedules and generous PTO
  • Onsite wellness programs and gyms
  • Comprehensive relocation packages for long-distance moves
Full Job Description
Description

Job Title Weapon Systems Surveillance Engineer (R&D Engineer 3)

Location Los Alamos, NM, US

Organization Name W-9/Weapons Systems Surveillance

Minimum Salary 128000

Maximum Salary 215900

What You Will Do

This position is open for external candidates only to apply.

The successful candidate will serve as a Weapon System Surveillance Engineer for the W88 system. In this role, you will help plan and execute surveillance activities for stockpile-return components and materials, coordinate with production agencies and design stakeholders, evaluate surveillance data and communicate results to engineering, physics, programmatic, and federal partners. This position offers a high degree of technical independence, broad interaction across LANL and the Nuclear Security Enterprise, and the opportunity to contribute directly to decisions that support the continued safety and reliability of the nuclear stockpile. Additional responsibilities may include:
  • Translate Design Agency surveillance requirements into executable test direction, sample-selection instructions, engineering authorization documents, and production agency guidance.
  • Lead or support qualification of new and existing surveillance tests including development of test requirements, experimental methods, procedures, work packages, and supporting documentation
  • Evaluate surveillance data from components, materials, production agency reports, and other data streams to assess system health, identify aging trends, and support engineering judgment.
  • Prepare annual surveillance summaries, briefings, and inputs to the W88 Annual Assessment process including communicating technical results to engineering, physics, management and federal stakeholders.
  • Lead or support investigations of anomalous observations reported during surveillance.
  • Coordinate with component surveillance engineers, and program partners to identify knowledge gaps, evaluate new diagnostic or test capabilities and recommend improvements to surveillance methods.
  • Represent the surveillance program in technical meetings, planning committees, reviews and stakeholder briefings, including advocating for recommendations.
  • Maintain and improve surveillance program requirements, documentation, schedules, and records to ensure a healthy, comprehensive, and defensible surveillance program.


What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements:

R&D Engineer 3 ($128,000 - $215,900):

Engineering Experience

Demonstrated knowledge of engineering principles relevant to complex systems, components, materials, testing, reliability, production, or surveillance. Relevant experience may include nuclear weapon systems, aerospace, defense, nuclear, high-consequence operations, manufacturing, quality, or other regulated technical environments.

Technical Leadership

Demonstrated ability to lead technical tasks or projects, coordinate contributors across organizations, manage milestones and deliverables, risks and recommendations.

Data Evaluation and Problem Solving

Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical data, identify trends or anomalies, integrate information from multiple sources, and develop defensible conclusions or recommendations.

Technical Documentation and Requirements

Experience developing, reviewing or maintaining technical requirements, procedures, work instructions, test plans, reports or other formal technical documentation.

Communication and Teamwork

Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively through written documentation, briefings, and technical discussions with coworkers, management and customers. Proven record of working effectively as a team member. Demonstrated ability to seek technical input from experts.

Education/Experience at lower level: Position requires a Master's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution and 6 years of related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation. At this level a Ph.D. may be preferred

Desired Qualifications:
  • General knowledge of the engineering authorization system and document management systems
  • Experience with surveillance, reliability, sustainment, aging, qualification, or lifecycle management programs
  • Experience with anomaly resolution, nonconformance evaluation, causal analysis, or risk assessment processes
  • Working experience at one or more of the NNSA design labs or production plants
  • Working experience with classified computing systems and classified documents

Work Location: The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.

Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year.

Note to Applicants:
  • Please submit a detailed cover letter with your resume addressing all required and desired skills. (Please save cover letter with job number and name).
  • Candidates from a variety of technical backgrounds are encouraged to apply. While direct nuclear weapons or stockpile surveillance experience is valuable, we recognize that relevant experience may also come from aerospace, defense, nuclear energy, manufacturing, quality, reliability, systems engineering, test engineering, production support, or other highly regulated technical environments. If you have experience coordinating complex technical work, evaluating data, solving ambiguous engineering problems, and communicating recommendations to stakeholders, we encourage you to describe that experience in your cover letter.
  • Applicants must currently hold a Q Clearance with Sigma 15 authorization, or have the ability to obtain a Q clearance and Sigma 15 authorization.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Where You Will Work

Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:
  • PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
  • Dental and vision insurance
  • Free basic life and disability insurance
  • Paid childbirth and parental leave
  • Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
  • Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
  • Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
  • Onsite gyms and wellness programs
  • Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)


Additional Details

Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2 . Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.

Clearance: Q (Position will be cleared to this level). Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance, and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad.

*Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.

New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.

Employment Status Full Time

Appointment Type Regular

Regular

Contact Details

Contact Name Robinson, Loren

Email [email protected]

Work Telephone

About Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory initially organized during World War II for the design of nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. It is located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico in the southwestern United States. LANL conducts research in fields such as national security, space exploration, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing. It is the largest institution of its kind in the world. LANL is managed and operated by Triad National Security, LLC, which is composed of Battelle Memorial Institute, the University of California, and the Texas A&M University System.
Learn more about Los Alamos National Laboratory
Size
12,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1943

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