Early Career R&D Mechanical Engineer - Advanced Mechanical Design, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico; On-site; USD 102,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking an Early Career R&D Mechanical Engineer focused on advanced mechanical design, onsite. You will work on surety components for nuclear deterrence applications, developing designs through iteractive cycles with prototype hardware and testing.

Travel is limited, and on-site work is required due to security classifications. Qualifications include a Bachelor's in a relevant field, DOE Q clearance eligibility, and experience in mechanical engineering, product

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance.
• Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering is preferred.
• Experience with mechanical engineering and product realization in the NNSA complex.
• Proficiency with GD&T, FEA, failure modes & effects analysis, and non-destructive evaluation techniques.
• Experience with rigid multi-body dynamics modeling software such as LMS Virtual.Lab Motion or MSC Adams.
• Ability to develop and validate models using test data and perform design optimization.

Responsibilities

• Develop and down-select design concepts.
• Negotiate functional and interface requirements with the next assembly customer.
• Analyze designs for concept suitability and changes.
• Lead design definition drawings using GD&T.
• Develop and refine designs through design-build-test cycles.
• Lead assembly of prototype hardware and supervise testing.
• Review and approve product manufacturing requirements.
• Document work in formal reports and memos.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and travel less than every two months.

Skills

Mechanical engineering

Product realization

Design optimization

Uncertainty quantification

Monte Carlo methods

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

LMS Virtual.Lab Motion

MSC Adams

Job description

Early Career R&D Mechanical Engineer - Advanced Mechanical Design, 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:

We are seeking a R&D Mechanical Engineer to support the full lifecycle of surety components; development, production, and assessment of ongoing lifetime performance. These mechanisms play a critical role in assuring the safety and security of the nation's nuclear deterrent in a wide range of environments including severe accident scenarios. You will work on mechanism components comprised of assemblies of over 100 custom designed/built piece parts that have complex mechanical interactions.

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

Develop and down-select design concepts

Negotiate functional and interface requirements with the next assembly customer

Analyze designs to determine suitability of concepts and changes

Lead generation and revisions of product design definition drawings using GD&T

Develop and refine new designs through iterative design-build-test cycles

Lead the assembly of prototype and developmental hardware

Negotiate product manufacturing requirements with the production agency

Review inspection results to verify product compliance with requirements

Disposition product non-conformances based on design analysis and subject matter expert review

Develop and execute test plans to validate designs

Create test specifications and procedures for product acceptance and surveillance

Develop and execute qualification plans to ensure product quality and compliance with requirements throughout production

Generate and modify models to inform product design and support production

Investigate anomalies and resolve through analysis and test-based methods

Evaluate data from component and systems level tests to assess the ability of devices to continue to meet requirements in fielded systems

Present designs, tests results, and findings to peers, customers, and management in formal and informal settings

Document work in formal reports and memos

Work and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams

Travel to partner and customer locations as required (generally less than once every two months).

Applicants on this requisition may be interviewed by multiple organizations at Sandia National Laboratories.

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

Salary Range:

$102,400 - $199,700

*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, 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 clearance

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D S&E Mechanical Engineer 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 in the design, development, and production of mechanical products, including working with suppliers and machine shops to fabricate hardware and performing mechanical testing (e.g., vibration, thermal)

Experience in modeling and simulation of nuclear safety mechanisms, including rigid body dynamics and multi-body system analysis

Proficiency with rigid multi-body dynamics modeling software such as LMS Virtual.Lab Motion, MSC Adams, or equivalent

Experience developing virtual prototypes and using advanced modeling tools to solve complex engineering challenges related to surety components

Experience in developing and validating models using test data, including design optimization, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification techniques (e.g., Monte Carlo methods)

Familiarity with Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), finite element analysis, failure modes and effects analysis, and non-destructive evaluation techniques

Active DOE Q security clearance

About Our Team:

We are a mechanical engineering group responsible for safety and security mechanisms (components) for Nuclear Deterrence (ND) applications. We have responsibility for conceptual design, full-scale engineering development, product characterization, product qualification, component production support, and ongoing surveillance. Mechanisms for which we have design responsibility include unique signal Stronglinks, Environmental Sensing Devices, future safety concepts, and weapon release detection switches.

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:

Sandia is required by DOE 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 obtain and 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
• At Sandia, recruiters manually review resumes on each job posting instead of using a resume screening software program
• By following the best practices outlined, this ensures that recruiters can accurately determine your qualifications for the position