Senior/Principal R&D Mechanical Engineer- Structural Dynamics Analyst, Onsite

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.

Our team is ready to welcome a highly motivated, productive, and innovative individual to join the Analytical Structural Dynamics Department as a structural dynamics analyst. Our span of work encompasses the full spectrum of research, development, and application in structural dynamics analysis The position involves a challenging mix of engineering analysis, model development, model validation, and product performance evaluation for a wide range of Sandia products. There are significant opportunities to team with in-house (high-fidelity, multi-physics) code development teams, as well as daily opportunities to work on very challenging problems using world-class computational resources!

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

• Support the completion of shock and vibration analyses for weapons systems, missile payloads, and other aerospace structures
• Team with project and test engineers at Sandia and with Sandia's external customers
• Work with and/or lead a diverse team of staff to support our research and programmatic needs

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

$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.

• 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.
  
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q security clearance.

The ideal R&D S&E Mechanical Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• 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.
• 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:

• Understanding of structural dynamics and modal analysis theory, including relevant coursework in structural dynamics, mechanics, FEA, and materials engineering
• Experience with meshing and model development tools
• Experience with finite element analysis (FEA) software
• Programming experience in MATLAB, Python, or other languages
• Experience working with experimental data and understanding typical structural dynamics testing approaches
• Project leadership experience and the ability to translate customer needs into executable analysis tasks
• Experience calibrating models to experimental data and debugging model issues
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Research experience
• CAD experience
• Experience running simulations on high-performance computing (HPC) systems
• Experience integrating AI tools into engineering workflows
• Active DOE Q or DOW TS security clearance
  

The Analytical Structural Dynamics Department provides expertise defining, assessing, and predicting the structural dynamic performance of Sandia products. We partner with Sandia product designers to predict and define mechanical environments for the entire design life-cycle. We develop both linear and mildly non-linear models for computational simulation of a product's mechanical behavior. We assist product engineers in optimizing their designs early in a development program and to fully explore the product's performance space during final design qualification. We work closely with experimental structural dynamics experts at Sandia to develop validated models and optimal testing protocols. Our department develops state-of-the-art tools for characterizing and analyzing structural dynamics environments and their effects on structures ranging from full-scale weapon and spacecraft systems to micro-scale electro-mechanical devices.

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.

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.

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.

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.