Cleared Senior/Principal R&D Systems Engineer, Project Lead, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico; On-site; USD 118,000 - 236,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Affordable housing

Minimal traffic congestion

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is seeking a Cleared Senior/Principal R&D Systems Engineer and Project Lead to advance RF/microwave special communications systems for national security applications. You'll collaborate with engineers across RF, DSP, and embedded systems, guide architecture, and manage risk through the full lifecycle.

The role emphasizes leadership, design reviews, and fielded products, with travel and onsite work; relocation available; salary range listed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline with five years of experience in R&D.
• Active DOE Q security clearance or equivalent.
• Ability to lead and deliver on complex, high-rigor projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead system requirements, architectures, and interfaces for RF/microwave systems.
• Define trade studies and guide design reviews and verification.
• Manage technical, cost, and schedule risk across a project lifecycle.
• Mentor staff and grow the team’s systems engineering capabilities.
• Provide status updates to management and external partners.

Skills

Leadership

Teamwork

Communication

RF engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Tools

RF engineering

Job description

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Cleared Senior/Principal R&D Systems Engineer, Project Lead, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide

Extraordinary co-workers

Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world

Career advancement and enrichment opportunities

Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)

Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

The High Reliability Special Communications Department (5372) is seeking a motivated Systems Engineer and Project Lead to drive the development of advanced RF/microwave special communications systems. Our systems are used in high-impact, high-consequence national security applications. You'll work alongside deep technical experts in RF, DSP, and embedded systems. Prior RF experience is helpful but not required.

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

Develop trust-based partnerships with organizations internal and external to Sandia.

Lead and listen to a multidisciplinary team of engineers and subject-matter experts.

Define and manage system requirements, architectures, and interfaces, and conduct trade studies to inform design decisions.

Guide the team through design reviews and verification, and release documentation to realize fielded products.

Plan and lead integration, test, and field-test activities.

Manage technical, cost, and schedule risk across the project lifecycle.

Mentor staff and help grow the department's systems engineering capabilities.

Provide programmatic and technical status updates to Sandia management and external partners.

Align and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders, production partners, and government organizations.

Some travel is required for this position. Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant will be required to work onsite. Relocation provided for those who qualify.

Salary Range:

$117,500 - $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

Active DOE Q security clearance or equivalent (e.g. DOW Top Secret)

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D S&E Systems Engineer candidate 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 with Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) laboratories and plants including Pantex, Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Kansas City National Security Campus/New Mexico Operations (KCNSC/NMO).

Experience working on engineering design, qualification, production, or related modeling/simulation projects.

Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams.

Also for this posting we are seeking individual with the following experience:

Two or more years of demonstrated leadership experience.

Experience leading engagements with DoD/DoW and NNSA sponsors.

Demonstrated success leading teams to meet performance, cost, and schedule targets.

Experience with high-rigor projects and teams (e.g., nuclear weapons, hypersonics, space payloads).

Ability to obtain and maintain SCI access, which may require a polygraph test.

About Our Team:

The High Reliability Special Communications Department (5372) develops terrestrial, airborne, and space-based special communications systems for surveillance, reconnaissance, and high-value target and material control. Our work spans long- and short-range communications and transponder systems, typically using ultra-low-power signaling techniques. Design challenges include highly miniaturized electronics, efficient low-power transceivers, and signal extraction in very low signal-to-noise ratio environments. Our staff bring a diverse skill set spanning microwave circuit design, antenna design, signal analysis, digital signal processing, embedded software development, mechanical design, and systems engineering, and work together to carry solutions from initial concept through fielded capability. We serve a variety of government organizations conducting specialized missions, giving our work real-world impact.

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.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

• Affordable housing, reasonable cost of living
• Minimal traffic congestion compared to larger cities