R&D Engineer 3-Weapon Systems Safety Analysis

at  Los Alamos National Laboratory

MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Knowledge and experience in nuclear or explosive operations requirements, including safety, safeguards and security, explosive safety, radiation protection, waste management, criticality safety, conduct of operations, authorization basis, and the integration of these requirements into a cohesive and functional design and execution strategy.
• Work closely with a multidisciplinary team to perform assessments, walkdown new processes, develop weapon response and evaluate control criteria, maintain evaluation results, and present findings orally and in writing to multiple levels of management in the Nuclear Weapon Complex.
• Coordinate with organizations internal and external to LANL to effectively discuss technical points and to recommend acceptable engineering solutions.
• Demonstrated experience interacting effectively with all levels of external and internal personnel: building trust, gaining consensus, resolving conflicts.
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills as evidenced by technical reports, public speaking at conferences, presenting briefings to stakeholders, etc.
• Excellent motivational and leadership skills to help develop and guide LANL personnel.
• Expertise in presenting highly complex technical information to a non-technical audience in an understandable format, as well as to technical experts in appropriate detail.

DESIRED SKILLS:

• Demonstrated technical knowledge of weapon systems, explosive subsystems, and components.
• Familiarity with the Laboratory weapons production development and programmatic activities.
• Experience in formal hazard analysis and safety basis processes.
• Experience in probabilistic risk assessment methodologies and applications in nuclear explosive operations.
• Experience working with classified material and as a Derivative Classifier (DC).
• Knowledge of engineering authorization systems, document management systems (e.g., PDM Link or like software) and applications to stockpile maintenance and configuration management.
• Active Q clearance and the ability to obtain Human reliability program (HRP) certification.
  Education: A BS degree in engineering from an Accredited Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) college or university program is required, along with at least 10 years relevant experience or an equivalent combination; advanced degree in engineering (ME, EE, ChemE, NucE, etc.) preferred.

The successful candidate for the W-10 Weapon Response (WR) Analyst (R&D Engineer 3) position will work along a motivated, multidisciplinary team of Weapon Response Analysts to characterize LANL’s standpoint on our components, systems, sub-systems and assemblies and their responses to hazard scenarios. The individual will also help organize and oversee the execution of the group’s increasing project work scope. WR analysts’ interface with internal LANL Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and system owners to best represent the position of the institution in terms of safety, vulnerabilities and potential mitigation actions to protect the function and ensure the safety of our weapons. W-10 analysts consult with external design laboratories including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).
Major responsibilities of W-10 Weapon Response Analysts include developing weapon response information, coordinating with SMEs to develop information, writing documentation, providing briefings on weapon response, interfacing with production engineering, hazard analysis task teams, production technicians, and safety basis analysts to support development and communication of the weapon response information.

Responsibilities for this position include the ability to:

• Use physics or mechanical, nuclear, electrical, chemical, civil, or industrial engineering theories, principles, and practices to develop and evaluate weapon response for given hazards and hazards scenarios.
• Perform and interpret calculations, analyses, and computations for unknown factors or relationships primarily in the matters of factual nature of involving well understood mechanisms that drive hazardous energy application to weapon systems and components.Develop weapon response requiring multidisciplinary integration of both internal and external organizations.
• Form and represent LANL’s position on the safety of our components, systems, sub-systems, and assemblies for weapon assembly/disassembly operations at the Pantex Plant and with the Office of Secure Transport.
• Comply with the requirements of the LANL Weapon Response Process (W-SE-0023U), DOE-NA-STD-3016, Hazard Analysis Reports for Nuclear Explosive Operations and U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 10 CFR 830, Nuclear Safety Management (Subpart A - Quality Assurance Requirements; Subpart B - Safety Basis Requirements).
• Work effectively with other LANL Weapon Response Analysts, System Engineers, managers, and technical professionals.
• Work effectively with counterparts at Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Pantex and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) personnel.
• Produce high-quality deliverables (e.g., Weapons Response Technical Basis documents, Weapon Response Summary Documents, and technical reports) on schedule.

Accommodate the need for moderate travel (mainly to Pantex, LLNL and SNL).