Senior/Principal R&D Electrical Engineer - Interconnects & Component Engineering, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 118,000 - 236,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible schedule

Telecommuting

Relocation assistance

Generous vacation

401k plan

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque is seeking an experienced R&D Electrical Engineer to serve as a Component Engineer. You will design, develop, and qualify complex cables and interconnect components for high-consequence applications, translating system requirements into robust, reliable designs.

The role involves working both independently and with a multidisciplinary team, addressing signal integrity, current, voltage, and shielding in demanding environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or related engineering/ science experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical design solutions for cable assemblies, interconnects, and related electrical components based on customer and system requirements.
• Translate requirements such as current, voltage, signal, continuity, and resistance constraints into robust component-level designs.
• Collaborate with design, systems, quality and other SMEs to support mission-critical development efforts.
• Support troubleshooting and resolution of electrical performance issues encountered during fabrication, build, integration, or test.
• Develop electrical acceptance criteria and help ensure products meet functional, environmental, and life-cycle requirements.

Skills

Electrical design

Troubleshooting

Signal integrity

Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

PCB design

Job description

About Sandia

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

Join a dynamic, high-performing team dedicated to solving some of the most challenging issues in support of the nation's security. The Interconnect Technologies Department is seeking a highly motivated R&D Electrical Engineer to serve as a Component Engineer on a diverse and passionate team committed to excellence and mission impact. In this role, you will work in a highly integrated environment alongside electrical, mechanical, systems, and quality engineers to design, develop, and qualify complex cables and related interconnect components for high-consequence applications.

This role is well suited for a strong electrical engineer who can apply sound engineering fundamentals to translate system and customer requirements into practical, reliable design solutions. In this position, you will work both independently and collaboratively to develop electrical designs that meet performance requirements such as signal integrity, current carrying capacity, resistance limits, and shielding across demanding operational environments.

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

• Develop electrical design solutions for cable assemblies, interconnects, and related electrical components based on customer and system requirements.
• Translate requirements such as current, voltage, signal, continuity, and resistance constraints into robust component-level designs.
• Collaborate with design engineers, systems engineers, quality engineers, technologists, and other subject matter experts to support mission-critical development efforts.
• Support troubleshooting and resolution of electrical performance issues encountered during fabrication, build, integration, or test.
• Investigate issues such as continuity failures, resistance concerns, or other electrical anomalies and help identify practical corrective actions.
• Perform electrical analysis and evaluate test data to assess product performance and support technical decision-making.
• Develop electrical acceptance criteria and help ensure products meet functional, environmental, and life-cycle requirements.
• Partner with stakeholders, including production partners and vendors, to support manufacturable and reliable design solutions.
• Contribute to technical documentation, design reviews, cost estimates, and presentations of findings and recommendations.
• Support related electrical design efforts, which may include circuit or printed circuit board work, depending on program needs.

Because of the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work on site, with travel required approximately once per quarter.

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, 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 Electrical Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Ability to work independently and collaborate well in a multidisciplinary team of designers and test engineers.
• Outstanding verbal and written skills, including the ability to develop and present briefings that are clear and compelling.

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

• Active DOE Q-level security clearance.
• Experience with electrical engineering design and product realization in the NNSA complex.
• Experience applying electrical engineering fundamentals to develop component-level design solutions that meet system or customer requirements.
• Experience with electrical design for components, cables, interconnects, or related hardware.
• Demonstrated ability to design to electrical performance requirements such as signal, current, voltage, continuity, resistance, and shielding constraints.
• Experience troubleshooting electrical performance issues and evaluating test data to identify root causes and support resolution.
• Demonstrated application of design guides and specifications, including design for manufacturability and design for environmental requirements.
• Ability to identify design or requirement shortcomings, articulate impacts, and drive technical resolution with stakeholders.
• Experience in applying engineering principles in partnership with production organizations, vendors, or manufacturing teams.
• Demonstrated initiative, sound engineering judgment, and the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Printed Circuit Board design experience is desired, but not required.
• Experience with Nuclear Deterrence product realization, design, production, and qualification processes, including ND drawing requirements and the Engineering Authorization System.

About Our Team

The Interconnect Technologies Department designs, develops, tests, and qualifies cable assemblies including high voltage, RF, flat-flex, multi-wire, and fiber optic cables as well as junction boxes and adapter assemblies. We also design, fabricate, and deploy equipment and testers for our products when such systems are not available through private industry. Our in-house designed equipment is used at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), and selected vendor sites to support the development and qualification of War Reserve and other high-reliability components.

We use the Realize Product Subsystem (RPSS) to realize Mark Quality products across the full product realization cycle, including requirements, design, development, specification, qualification, procurement, delivery, and stockpile support, in partnership with organizations throughout the Nuclear Security Enterprise. We employ defect prevention strategies to better understand design margin during development and to mitigate risk during production.

The department's capabilities enable us to address challenging requirements associated with long-life, high reliability, radiation tolerance, nuclear safety, and size and weight restrictions. Adherence to safety, process controls, and quality principles is essential to the success of our department.

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.