Senior Accelerator Safety System Engineer

LBL; California (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is seeking a Senior Accelerator Safety System Engineer to lead safety system development for ALS-U, BELLA, and related facilities. This role will direct engineers and technicians, coordinate with RPG and RP groups, and ensure regulatory and programmatic compliance across complex accelerator and laser systems.

The successful candidate will design, implement, and certify safety-interlock systems, oversee testing and recertification, and collaborate on

Responsibilities

• Develop safety systems for ALS-U and related facilities following applicable codes and LBNL policies.
• Oversee interlock and safety system implementation for accelerator and laser facilities; contribute to innovative safety solutions.
• Plan and complete safety system projects with costs, budgets, schedules, and procurement support.
• Generate system requirements and specifications per safety lifecycle, collaborating with RPG.
• Participate in design reviews of interlock systems.
• Design, program, and certify safety-rated PLC-based controllers.
• Oversee fail-safe design for beam loss or radiation sensing electronics.
• Collaborate with controls, instrumentation, and legacy systems teams on diagrams and upgrades.
• Define, implement, and execute reliability qualification.

Job description

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s (LBNL) Engineering Division has an opening for an Senior Accelerator Safety System Engineer to join the team. You will be responsible for ensuring that the safety systems of the Advanced Light Source (ALS), the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA), the 88-Inch Cyclotron, and other radiation-generating facilities and systems at LBNL meet regulatory and programmatic requirements. The BELLA Center uses one of the world’s most powerful lasers in its campaign toward the next landmark in laser plasma accelerator energy — 10 GeV — and is developing numerous spinoff applications. The ALS has been a global leader in soft x‑ray science for more than two decades and is currently undergoing a large‑scale upgrade (ALS-U) that will endow the facility with state‑of‑the‑art x‑ray capabilities. It’s an exciting time to join our team!

The Senior Accelerator Safety System Engineer will direct the efforts of Engineers, Associate Engineers, and Technicians, while collaborating with Engineers and Scientists within LBNL, DOE labs, and the international accelerator community, and reporting directly to the Lead Accelerator Safety Systems Engineer. As part of the Engineering Division, you will join a workforce of dedicated 300 engineers working closely with our science partners.

The largest accelerator project at LBNL is the Upgrade of the Advanced Light Source (ALS-U). Therefore, this position will initially support completion of the design and implementation of the ALS-U safety system. Your responsibility will require you to support a team of engineers in analyzing, designing, implementing, and testing the Safety Interlock Systems. It will also require analysis of the existing ALS Safety System and an implementation that preserves the functionality of the existing safety systems.

In the function as labwide safety engineer, you are expected to guide a small group of safety engineers and support upgrade implementations through in‑house designs or outside contracts. An important component of this function is organizing required design reviews and safety system certification, as well as overseeing required periodic testing and recertification in collaboration with the operations groups of the various accelerators. This will require close collaboration with the institutional Radiation Protection Group (RPG) within the EH&S division, as well as the Radiation Physics (RP) Group within the ALS division.

Additionally, you are expected to participate in R&D activities developing active interlock systems and systems for complex scientific facilities and instruments, as needed in the future.

A typical background for a well‑rounded candidate includes safety interlock systems for accelerators or industrial controls for the automotive, petroleum, or nuclear industry.

This position will be filled at a level commensurate with the successful candidate’s skills, experiences, and abilities.

What You Will Do:

• Develop safety systems for the ALS-U project, including the study of codes of federal, state, and local regulations, DOE orders, LBNL policies, and procedures. Maintain compliance with applicable LBNL policies and standards (Engineering Process, Electrical Equipment Inspection Program, Safety Software Quality Assurance, safety protocols, respectful workplace, etc.)
• Oversee and ensure technical implementation for interlock and safety systems for LBNL accelerator and laser facilities. Contribute to the development of innovative solutions in the safety systems for existing and future particle accelerators.
• Independently plan and complete safety system projects, ranging from small to large. Support projects with cost estimates, budgets, schedules, and procurement of key components.
• Generate system requirements and specifications following the safety lifecycle process, collaborating with the Radiation Protection Group (RPG).
• Participate and support RPG in design reviews of LBNL‑designed interlock systems.
• Design, program, and certify safety‑rated PLC‑based controllers.
• Oversee engineering effort for the fail‑safe design of beam loss or radiation sensing electronics.
• In some LBNL facilities, custom analog and digital circuits are used at the system and component level as inputs and will require collaboration with the controls and instrumentation group and analysis.
• In addition, the group will require working with legacy systems, including drawing formal electrical and electronic schematics and wiring diagrams of new systems as well as upgrading existing relay‑based systems.
• Define, implement, and execute reliability qualification