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 either a Senior or Principal level self-directed, results focused, individual who has strong interpersonal skills to support lab-wide efforts focusing on the research, development, and application of aerodynamic and aero-thermal models for hypersonic reentry systems, atmospheric flight vehicles, and rocket systems. Research & Development staff will perform research, capability development, and analyses using analytical and computational techniques to design and analyze hypersonic vehicles, flight test bodies, and related systems. The responsibilities associated with this position span the spectrum of activities from research to development and applications. Applications of interest include analysis spanning levels of complexity, ranging from fast-turnaround reduced order model simulations, to compute intensive fully resolved, highly- coupled, multi-fidelity simulation.

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

• Work with other researchers in the department over the complete capability development cycle of discover, model, validate, and apply, developing new and extending existing hypersonic aerodynamics, turbulence modeling, and ablation modeling capabilities to deal with constantly evolving technical needs and requirements
• Develop computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and related code in Sandia¿s SPARC CFD and Sierra/Thermal-Fluids code suite for reentry aerodynamic, ablation, and aerothermal response applications.
• You will be involved in supporting Sandia¿s numerous flight test programs, working to analyze proposed vehicles to support design and analyze flight test data to validate computational models in support of these programs. It is expected that this experience will feed back into the capability development cycle.
• You will show demonstrated proficiencies and interest in modeling research spanning multiple disciplines, including nonequilibrium high speed flow-field modeling, boundary layer transition and turbulence, fluid-structure interactions, aero-thermodynamics, and material thermal response.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite. Relocation provided for those that qualify.

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

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D S&E Aerospace Engineer candidate will in addition have the following:

• Graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Experience in applied aerodynamics, flight mechanics, or trajectory simulation with application to the design, modeling, simulation, optimization, and analysis of aerospace flight systems.
• Experience with the capabilities, use, and application of MATLAB®, Simulink®, Python, C/C++, or other modern programming languages and repositories in technical analysis/computing and software development.
• Proven ability to work and communicate effectively in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced/schedule driven environment.

Also for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field, or Master's degree in Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering, or other related field plus three years of professional experience.
• Strong background in hypersonic compressible fluid mechanics theory and modeling.
• Experience and expertise in the application of CFD, aerothermal/ablation, material thermal response tools, fluid/thermal/ablation, or closely related tools for the analysis of hypersonics, reentry, or related flight systems.
• Versatility to provide quick-turnaround meaningful engineering solutions, as well as solutions requiring deeper long-term investigation, to solve aerothermal problems.
• Expertise in numerical algorithms (finite element, finite difference, and/or finite volume methods) for CFD simulations of compressible high Reynolds number flows.
• Familiarity with HPC environments
• Proficiency with grid generation software
• Demonstrated ability to incorporate AI/ML processes into engineering workflow

About Our Team:

The Computational Aerosciences Department (1511) offers challenging and important work relating to national security in R&D and technology applications in aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, compressible fluid mechanics, and flight dynamics. Our primary mission supports U.S. Department of Energy Defense Programs, and aerosciences projects funded through the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA, NASA, and industry.

Our projects span the Mach number range from subsonic through hypersonic and involve systems ranging from aircraft released ordinance to reentry systems and rocket systems. Technical activities include experimental, analytical, and computational efforts plus support of flight test activities, both pre-flight/post-flight analyses and field test operations. The Computational Aerosciences Department maintains a strong balance of research and development activities and works synergistically with other organizations at Sandia to meet current and future customer needs.

Posting Duration:

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.

Security Clearance:

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.

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: 697925

Job Family: RD

Regular/Temporary Position: R

Full/Part-Time Status: F