Cleared Senior/Principal R&D Systems Engineer - W93 System Evaluation and Qualification, 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 a highly motivated and experienced System Technical Basis Lead (STBL) to join our team in support of the W93 Evaluation and Qualification (E&Q) organization. The successful candidate will play a critical role in managing the test lifecycle and ensuring the effective execution of testing strategies.

This position requires a highly motivated individual with strong leadership and communication skills, capable of working collaboratively across various teams and disciplines. Responsibilities will include:

• Setting expectations for the test lifecycle, owning the lifecycle document, and approving any deviations from established guidance, while providing necessary feedback and clarifications.
• Partners closely and effectively with the W93 Evaluation and Qualification Lead to ensure the overall E&Q strategy is implemented through our tactical analysis and testing activities.
• Coordinate any implementation challenges with the W93 E&Q Lead to ensure the strategy is modified, broader impacts are understood, and any necessary changes or mitigations are pursued.
• Managing tactical-level test timelines and schedules, including P6 E&Q inputs and updates, as well as program-level test and mod/sim schedules. Providing scheduling support for test facilities, adjudicating priorities within the W93 program and among other SNL priorities.
• Serving as the primary point of contact for domain lead updates, facilitating interactions between the testing teams and internal/external reporting.
• Signing off on hardware transfer and hardware reuse forms, ensuring compliance with established Building 840 protocols.
• Acting as the main point of contact for all test risks and baseline change requests, owning risks related to testing and mod-sim activities, and approving any change requests associated with these areas.
• Integrating test leads to communicate changes and support reviews with the Hardware Team and MRS to ensure needs are accurately documented (e.g. quantities, hardware pedigrees, and requirements versions).
• Executing the environments strategy with the test leads, tracking mod/sim verification and validation needs, and ensuring alignment between mod/sim requirements and test data.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite. Some travel will be required.

Salary Range:

$114,000 - $227,500

*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 or equivalent and the ability to obtain and maintain a Sigma 15 security clearance

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D 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:

• Strong organizational and leadership skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks effectively.
• Experience in systems engineering, particularly in the context of nuclear weapon systems or similar complex systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams and manage competing interests.
• Experience in risk management and change control processes within a testing environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience in stakeholder engagement.
• Familiarity with systems engineering methodologies (e.g., V-Model, Agile) and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools and approaches.

About Our Team:

The W93 System Evaluation and Qualification Department (02396) has the primary responsibility to plan and coordinate evaluation activities for the W93/Mk7 Navy Strategic Reentry System Program. These activities involve modeling, simulation, and physical ground testing, in support of the maturation and ultimate qualification of the W93/Mk7 reentry body system design.

We work closely with our partners and program stakeholders, including NNSA Federal Program Managers, the US Navy, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Los Alamos National Lab, the Sandia nuclear weapons component organizations, the Sandia science & technology community, Kansas City Plant National Security Campus (NSC), the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), and many others, to coordinate expertise and implement effective approaches to better understand system technical knowledge gaps and validate the system works as intended.

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: 696500

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-696500

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-01-09T18:38:26