Applied Super Intelligence Engineer, Physical Systems

LLNL; Livermore (CA); Hybrid; USD 122,000 - 186,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Referral bonus

Job summary

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) seeks an Applied Super Intelligence Engineer, Physical Systems, to build software enabling SI agents and multimodal models to interact with real-world equipment via an existing hardware integration stack. Focus on applied SI and perception workflows in MED within the Engineering Directorate.

The role offers a hybrid schedule with some days remote and some on site, and requires compliance with DOE Q clearance and U.S. citizenship.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship eligibility for DOE Q clearance
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, software engineering, robotics, or related field
• Proficiency in Python or a comparable programming language
• Experience with LLM, multimodal, agent-based, or tool-calling applications
• Experience integrating models with APIs, services, data sources, or operational systems using JSON Schema or OpenAPI
• Experience working with real-world data from sensors, cameras, devices, or operational systems
• Strong software development practices including version control, automated testing, and code review

Responsibilities

• Implement agent-facing tool definitions and task workflows using documented interfaces and platform services
• Develop multimodal perception and decision-support workflows from camera, telemetry, and process data
• Improve prompt logic, tool use, evaluation methods, and workflow reliability for SI applications
• Translate real-world tasks into practical SI-assisted and testable workflows
• Collaborate with embedded, platform, and deployment engineers to define safe action boundaries and fallback behaviors
• Evaluate and debug SI workflows with logging and disciplined engineering practices
• Perform other duties as assigned

Skills

Python

LLM workflows

Multimodal

Tool-calling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Software Eng/Robotics or related field

Tools

ROS/ROS2

OpenAPI/JSON Schema

Git

Job description

Applied Super Intelligence Engineer, Physical Systems

• Full-time
• Job Code 2: SES.2 Science & Engineering MTS 2
• Employee Referral Bonus: $1500
• Job Code 1: SES.1 Science & Engineering MTS 1
• Pre-Employment Drug Test: Required for external applicant(s) selected for this position (includes testing for use of marijuana)
• Pre-Placement Medical Exam: Not applicable
• Security Clearance: Anticipated DOE Q clearance (requires U.S. citizenship and a federal background investigation)

Join us and make YOUR mark on the World!

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has turned bold ideas into world-changing impact advancing science and technology to strengthen U.S. security and promote global stability.

Our mission spans four critical national security areas nuclear deterrence, threat preparedness, energy security, and multi-domain defense empowering teams to take on the toughest challenges of today and tomorrow. With a culture built on innovation and operational excellence, LLNL is a place where your expertise can make a real impact.

We are seeking an Applied Super Intelligence (SI) Engineer, Physical Systems, to help build software that enables SI agents and multimodal models to interact with real-world equipment through an existing hardware integration stack. You will focus on applied SI and perception workflows that transform operational data and equipment interfaces into safe, usable SI-assisted systems. This position is in the Material Engineering Division (MED) within the Engineering Directorate.

This position offers a hybrid schedule, blending in-person and virtual presence. You will have the flexibility to work from home one or more days per week.

This position will be filled at either level based on knowledge and related experience as assessed by the hiring team. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if hired at the higher level.

You will

• Implement agent-facing tool definitions and task workflows that use documented equipment interfaces and platform services.
• Develop multimodal perception and decision-support workflows using camera, telemetry, and process data.
• Improve prompt logic, tool use, evaluation methods, and workflow reliability for physical-world SI applications.
• Translate real-world operational tasks into practical SI-assisted workflows that are usable, testable, and maintainable.
• Work with embedded, platform, and deployment engineers in a controlled environment to define safe action boundaries, human- or system-mediated approval points, and fallback behaviors using established external safety and security systems.
• Evaluate and debug applied SI workflows through comprehensive logging, iterative refinement, and disciplined engineering practices.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Additional job responsibilities, at the SES.2 level

• Design and evaluate agent workflows that combine perception, tool use, and equipment actions across multiple system components, input modalities, and operational steps.
• Improve reusable evaluation harnesses, guardrails, and failure analysis for SI-assisted workflows, using the results to guide technical decisions.
• Coordinate with embedded and SI platform engineers to translate device capabilities, operational requirements, and workflow evaluation results into reusable agent workflows, while providing informal guidance to less-experienced contributors.
• Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, robotics, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience.
• Proficiency in Python or a comparable programming language for building applications, prototypes, or internal tools in collaboration with software and systems engineers.
• Experience gained through coursework, projects, research, internships, or professional work developing LLM, multimodal, agent-based, or tool-calling applications.
• Experience designing, implementing, testing, and debugging tool-using SI workflows that connect models to APIs, services, data sources, or operational systems, including structured tool or API contracts, such as JSON Schema or OpenAPI, error handling, logging, and evaluation.
• Experience working with real-world data from sensors, cameras, devices, or operational systems.
• Familiarity with sound software development practices, including version control, automated testing, and collaborative code review.

Additional qualifications at the SES.2 level

• Ability to independently develop and evaluate multicomponent agent, multimodal, or tool-calling workflows for operational use.
• Ability to scope and debug moderately complex workflow failures involving perception, tool use, system integration, and operational constraints.

Qualifications We Desire

• Exposure to robotics workflows, ROS, or ROS 2.
• Experience with vision-language models, vision-language-action models, or multimodal perception pipelines.
• Familiarity with simulation, digital twins, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Familiarity with workflow orchestration, agent tracing or evaluation systems, prompt or configuration versioning, replay-based testing, or event and telemetry systems such as MQTT or NATS.

Pay Range

$121,830 - $185,544 Annually
$121,830 - $154,500 Annually for the SES.1 level
$146,340 - $185,544 Annually for the SES.3 level

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting; pay will not be below any applicable local minimum wage. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

#LI-Hybrid

Position Information

This is a Career Indefinite position, open to Lab employees and external candidates.

Why Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?

• Included in 2026Best Places to Work by Glassdoor!
• Flexible schedules (*depending on project needs)

This position requires a Department of Energy (DOE) Q-level clearance.If you are selected, wewill initiate a Federal background investigation to determine if youmeet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. Also, all L or Q cleared employees are subject to random drug testing. Q-level clearance requires U.S. citizenship.

We are an equal opportunity employer that is committed to providing all with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, protected veteran status, age, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Pre-Employment Drug Test

External applicant(s) selected for this position must pass a post-offer, pre-employment drug test. This includes testing for use of marijuana as Federal Law applies to us as a Federal Contractor.

Reasonable Accommodation

Our goal is to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates applying and interviewing at the Laboratory. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please use our online form to submit a request.

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