Cleared Senior/ Principal Systems Engineer, Flight Safety Systems - Onsite

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:

We are seeking an experienced R&D Systems Engineer to assist in leading the development of next-generation Autonomous Flight Safety Systems (AFSS). This opening is looking for qualified candidates with technical interests and skills relevant to advancing Sandia¿s development and application of emerging AFSS capabilities.

The transition from legacy Flight Termination Systems (FTS) to Autonomous Flight Termination Systems (AFTS) represents a pivotal advancement towards ensuring public safety during flight vehicle tests, particularly for hypersonic systems. In synergy with the AFTS resident on the flight vehicle, there are numerous other computer-based hardware and software custom technical commodities used to apply and operate it. The combination of these supporting elements with the vehicle on-board AFTS comprises an AFSS.

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

• Contribute to the establishment of the AFSS Government Reference Architecture (GRA) by the TRMC HSST, in collaboration with key partners, to streamline the integration of AFSS technologies, making them more accessible and cost-effective.
• Define standard configurations implemented using modular components to accelerate the development and approval processes for flight safety solutions while enhancing the reliability and responsiveness of applied safety solutions.
• Support the aerospace community in implementing GRA-compliant components, ushering in a new era of flight safety that facilitates innovative testing scenarios on an accelerated timeline and at reduced costs.
• Serve as the Associate Technical Program Manager (ATPM) and Chief Engineer in support of Sandia's role in the development and application of the AFSS GRA across several programs that have chosen the AFSS GRA as a safety solution.

Due to the nature of the work, this candidate must be able to work onsite.

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-Clearance holder.

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal Systems Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories 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 Laboratory (LLNL) 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 individuals with the following experience:

• Technical program management experience involving scheduling, risk management, budget tracking, and sponsor interface reporting responsibilities.
• Demonstrated technical contributions to past project deliverables.
• Curriculum or demonstrated practical experience with systems engineering principles and application.
• Undergraduate degree in either computer engineering, electrical engineering, or a computer-based STEM discipline
• Software design experience for high-consequence embedded software applications.
• Software engineering and development skills, including familiarity with modern software development practices and tools.
• Familiarity with the Greenhills INTEGRITY® Real Time Operating System.
• Proven experience with object-oriented software development (e.g., C, C++, Java and Python.)
• Applications experience with real-time embedded software engineering at the hardware level, including I/O driver software, interrupt service routines, and networking protocols.
• Understanding or experience working in an Agile Development environment Lab experience with the use of common digital debugging tools such as oscilloscopes, logic probes, and logic analyzer
• Proficiency with the use and application of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools such as Cameo MagicDraw.
• Familiarity with the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools such as Solidworks.
• Experience with flight safety documents such as RCC319 and RCC324.
• Familiarity with Military and Department of Transportation safety standards such as MIL-STD-882 and DO-178.
• Experience with flight qualification and certification of avionic components.
• Experience with placement and execution of Sandia contracts.
• Familiarity with methods for reliability analyses.
• Experience with inertial and GPS navigation technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across Sandia Centers with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

About Our Team:

The Navigation Guidance and Control and Sensing (NGC&S) Department, 05444, provides technology solutions and support to development projects within the Integrated Military Systems Program at Sandia. Hardware and software technologies are developed, integrated, and tested to provide flight control solutions for missiles and hypersonic reentry platform applications. Typically, these systems support the Missile Defense Agency, Army, Navy, and other Department of Defense Agencies with a primary focus on maturing and demonstrating supporting next-generation technologies. Our applications cover a broad spectrum of applications including Autonomous Flight Safety Systems, radio and inertial navigation, alternative-navigation sensors, communication and flight termination systems, advanced aerodynamically controlled vehicles, maneuvering hypersonic vehicles, ballistic missile systems. Related applications require the extensive use of real time embedded computers and custom real-time software for the realization of fully integrated flight control system solutions. The NGC group is significantly involved in modeling and simulation activities in support of these same application areas. The department strives to provide leadership to the Laboratory and the Nation in the creative development, use, and application of both NGC and mod/sim technologies. The NGC Department staff pride themselves in team accomplishments, professional development, and the mentorship of others.

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) 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.

Job ID: 696833

Job Family: RD

Regular/Temporary Position: R

Full/Part-Time Status: F

Client-provided location(s): Albuquerque, NM

Job ID: Departmend_Of_Energy_-_Sandia_National_Laboratories_FGB-696833

Employment Type: PART_TIME

Posted: 2026-01-29T18:39:33