Postdoctoral Appointee - Hydrodynamic Energy Systems Computing, Onsite

Postdoctoral Appointee - Hydrodynamic Energy Systems High Performance Computing, 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.

We are seeking a hardworking and dedicated Postdoctoral Appointee in the Hydrodynamic Energy Systems department. You will work both independently and with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and scientists working on projects that focus on wave energy converter (WEC) control and WEC co‑design, current energy converter (CEC) technologies, and other projects related to hydrodynamic energy systems.

• Collaborate with other departments in energy conversion technologies.
• Conduct experiments to evaluate new technologies.
• Perform simulations, optimizations, and/or hardware tests and document results.
• Contribute to manuscripts for publication.

This position is located in Albuquerque, NM, and the annual salary for this position is $98,500. Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

• Ph.D. in engineering, science, or other relevant STEM discipline.
• Experience with computational fluid dynamics (CFD), structural models, and/or fluid‑structure interaction (FSI) models.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q‑level security clearance.

• Proficiency in programming for data processing and analysis (e.g., MATLAB, Python).
• Experience with high‑performance computing simulations.
• Experience with mooring modeling and/or experimental testing.
• Familiarity with hydrodynamic energy systems, offshore systems or related technologies.
• Demonstrated initiative, for example, through independently developed research questions, novel model development, and/or addressing new engineering or scientific challenges.
• Demonstrated interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Experience with numerical modeling for river and tidal energy converters, e.g. using SNL‑D3D, ANSYS Suites.

The Hydrodynamic Energy Systems (HES) department develops technologies that harness energy from waves, currents, tides and ocean thermal gradients to generate energy for power and national security applications. We apply capabilities and expertise in mechanical, electrical, civil and controls engineering, as well as robotics, materials and data science, and high‑fidelity modeling to create novel energy conversion devices and to characterize hydrodynamic resources.

Our work focuses on advancing hydrodynamic energy technologies to support national energy security objectives.

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.

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, veteran status and any other protected class under state or…