Chemist

Overview

Job Title/Req:
Chemist/Chemical Engineer

This position provides operational, research and development and training support along with subject matter expert advice and decision support to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as part of its 24/7/365 Reachback contract. Shift work is required. The DTRA Technical Reachback team’s prime focus is to respond to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and (high yield) Explosive (CBRNE) related requests for information (RFIs) from the Combatant Commands (COCOMs), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Staff (JS), Intelligence Community (IC), command elements, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), other U.S. Government agencies, and first responders.

• Provide general knowledge and subject matter expertise as a Chemist/Chemical Engineer within a multi-disciplinary Reachback team.
• Perform complex engineering and scientific analyses and conduct special studies.
• Prepare scientific reports and technical assessments for military decision makers and their technical staffs.
• Perform independent verification/validation of CBRNE effects models.
• Utilize stand-alone CBRNE decision support software toolkits containing multiple models to fulfill RFI requirements (examples include HPAC, IMEA, VAPO, PDCALC).
• Complete the certification process on the use of the models before becoming an active Reachback team member.
• Collaborate with other team members to apply modeling to threat scenarios and decision support.
• Contribute chemical expertise to the multi-disciplinary team and support consequence management activities as needed (threat detection, attribution, protection, remediation).
• Develop, integrate, test, verify, validate and apply CBRNE software/scenarios based on experimental results and theoretical/computational methods.
• Work with other engineering groups to define modeling objectives, obtain inputs/outputs, and verify results.
• Present modeling results and decision support to internal and external customers in written and oral formats.
• Review technical work of other engineers on modeling and analysis projects.

• Education: Master’s Degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering or a very closely related field (PhD preferred), with 1-4+ years of relevant DoD/Military experience desired.
• Competence: Ability to apply physics, mathematics and modeling/simulation to solve scientific problems.
• Experience: CBRNE/WMD with a focus on Chemistry or Chemical Defense is desired; related experience in other CBRNE/WMD defense areas will be considered. Education level may be considered as part of qualifications.
• Shift: Shift work is required as Reachback operates 24/7/365.
• Security/Citizenship: Applicant must be a U.S. citizen and be able to obtain and/or maintain a Top Secret SCI Security Clearance.
• Skills: Strong communication skills (oral and written), technical presentation abilities, teamwork, graphic visualization and proficiency with Microsoft Office.