Controls Engineering and Maintenance Leader

Company Description

Join us and make YOUR mark on the World! Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has turned bold ideas into world‑changing impact advancing science and technology to strengthen U.S. security and promote global stability. Our mission spans four critical national security areas nuclear deterrence, threat preparedness, energy security, and multi‑domain defense empowering teams to take on the toughest challenges of today and tomorrow.

With a culture built on innovation and operational excellence, LLNL is a place where your expertise can make a real impact.

We are seeking a dynamic and accomplished leader to join our team as Controls Engineering and Maintenance Leader within the National Ignition Facility and Photon Sciences (NIF&PS) Directorate. In this pivotal role you will guide the Controls Engineering & Maintenance group in operations, system upgrades, reliability engineering, and lifecycle sustainment planning. In this role you will apply your technical expertise and strategic vision to strengthen the foundation of a premier scientific facility.

As the CEM lead, you will provide strategic and technical leadership to a multi‑disciplinary team responsible for designing, upgrading and commissioning specialized controls systems at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). You will work closely with CEM teams and collaborate with other programs across the NIF&PS directorate to ensure effective planning, execution, and continuous improvement of engineering and maintenance activities. In this role you will drive long‑term sustainment of critical systems, lead facility upgrades to meet evolving mission needs and oversee resource allocation and technical direction to maintain and enhance the group’s operational excellence.

This position is part of the Laser Systems Engineering & Operations (LSEO) Division within the Engineering Directorate. This position requires full‑time on‑site presence due to the nature of the work.

• Lead teams, programs, or functions with a technical focus, operate under consultative direction with substantial authority, use subject matter expertise and significant team leadership experience, and exercise judgment within established policies to monitor workflow, allocate resources, ensure timely completion of projects, independently determine strategies, and achieve objectives while managing organizational impact and pursuing actions to achieve long‑term goals.
• Monitor the integrity and configuration of instrumentation, detection and alarm systems to anticipate the need for maintenance, repair, or replacement of components due to aging and degradation. Prepare assessments of system logs and problem reports and brief senior management on the results.
• Develop and implement solutions and approaches to highly complex upgrades and issues in support of commissioning, facility operations and maintenance using sound engineering judgment, in‑depth analysis, ingenuity, and creativity while ensuring compatibility with existing architectures.
• Plan and direct control system changes from concept through detailed design, fabrication, testing, and field implementation, coordinating work across fabrication technicians, electrical technicians, electrical designers, controls engineers, and PLC based safety system engineers.
• Prepare and review advanced instrumentation, and safety system designs, drawings, and other documents to describe and provide solutions for highly complex design requirements and engineering problems, while ensuring compliance with technical criteria, schedules, and deliverables.
• Support 24/7 facility operations for assigned systems, including rapid response to emergent issues, and leadership of after‑hours troubleshooting, repair, and recovery activities to minimize operational downtime and impact to mission.
• Represent the organization through influencing and contributing strategic technical advice, and providing subject matter expertise in the analysis, sustainment, design, and maintenance of highly complex systems and components.
• Lead multi‑disciplinary teams in developing new ideas, modifying approaches, and providing highly…