Cleared Senior/Principal R&D Mechanical Engineer - W93 Weapon Systems Design, 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.

Join our mission-driven team as an R&D Mechanical Engineer contributing to the mechanical design of the W93-0/Mk7 weapon system. In this important role, you will apply your expertise to advance weapon system architectures, balancing hands-on mechanical design and cross-team collaboration with cross-functional teams to support national security objectives.

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

• Execute mechanical design efforts for the W93 system, including developing mechanical layouts that define the position, size, and location of major components and subassemblies within the Joint Test Assembly (JTA) and WR reentry body designs.
• Design for testing of JTAs, ensuring that test builds meet program requirements and support successful flight testing.
• Collaborate closely with external partners such as Lockheed Martin and Los Alamos National Laboratory to negotiate requirements, define interfaces, and ensure manufacturability and interface compliance.
• Partner with the Metals/Non-Metals team responsible for ancillary parts (e.g., brackets, pads), working alongside electrical engineering leads to ensure seamless physical integration.
• Use tools like Creo and SolidWorks to model concepts and communicate design intent effectively, supporting configuration management workflows with PDMLink to maintain design integrity.
• Support system-level risk assessments and contribute to cross-team coordination efforts to help meet program objectives.
• Present designs and participate in design reviews with both internal teams and external partners, advocating for sound engineering decisions and system-level thinking.

This role emphasizes strong technical skills and collaboration, focusing on hands-on mechanical design and systems engineering contributions. Due to the sensitive nature of the work, the selected candidate 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 bachelors 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 to start.

The ideal R&D 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.
• 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:

• Experience in three or more of the following areas:
• Systems engineering of large and complex systems
• System design, integration, and qualification
• Nuclear weapon design and development, including designing for nuclear safety and manufacturability
• Proficiency in a CAD tool (Creo or SolidWorks)
• Proficiency in PDMLink configuration management
• Mass properties management
• Self-directed, customer-focused, with strong interpersonal, teaming, and analytical skills
• Experience with nuclear weapon designs
• Demonstrated ability to understand and work across diverse technologies and disciplines
• Proven ability to integrate and work effectively within technical teams, interface with customers and subcomponent teams, and conduct trade studies to identify optimal system solutions
• Experience coordinating activities across multiple teams responsible for complex systems
• Familiarity with coordinating computational modeling and simulation efforts

The W93 Systems Design Department includes mechanical and electrical engineering staff. We collaborate closely with our external design agency partners (LANL, LM Space) and our sister organizations 2380 (A21/W93 System Engineering and Integration). Together, we are responsible for the integration of the W93-0/Mk7 system. We interface with many external and internal customers to accomplish this monumental design objective and strive to ensure the future viability and effectiveness of our nations nuclear deterrent.

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

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.

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.