Early Career R&D Mechanical Engineer - Firing & Embedded Systems, Onsite

About the role

The Firing & Embedded Systems group (7620) within Sandia National Laboratories seeks Mechanical Engineers to design, develop, test, qualify, and monitor firing subsystems and other high-consequence embedded systems. These systems are crucial for U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons and other national security programs.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on multidisciplinary teams, providing ownership and direction for mechanical designs.
• Cookordination with customers, production agencies, and stakeholders to support design, testing, development, qualification, and production activities.
• Analyze performance against requirements, build prototypes, and refine designs.
• Perform modeling and simulation of design performance using tools such as PTC Creo, SOLIDWORKS, ANSYS, and MATLAB/Simulink.
• Communicate technical information and project status effectively to team members, customers, and management.
• Utilize tools and software to perform configuration management and issue engineering authorizations.
• Travel to partner and customer locations as required (generally less than 5 days per month).

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Sigma 15 access.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: mechanical design, environmental (e.g., climatic, vibration, mechanical shock) testing, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) principles and application, mechanical inspection and measurement techniques, electronics packaging design, structural analysis, thermal analysis, root cause analysis, statistical data analysis, design-for-manufacturing.
• Experience working in Nuclear Deterrence mission spaces including design, development, production, or surveillance.
• Experience working in a production or manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated attention to detail.
• Experience applying structured, data-driven problem-solving (root cause, corrective actions, lessons learned/continuous improvement).
• Ability to exercise sound technical judgment and systems thinking; anticipate interface/downstream impacts; know when to escalate vs. execute independently.
• Ability to plan and prioritize work based on mission impact and risk; adapt to changing constraints and information.

Skills

• Active DOE Q-level security clearance; or other equivalent active security clearance such as DOD Top Secret with CNWDI.

Benefits

• 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.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $102,400 - $199,700, with the actual salary determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Schedule

Onsite work is required for this position.