Target and Laser Interaction Sphere; TaLIS Integration Lead

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 detail-oriented and technically adept Integration Lead to join the Target and Laser Interaction Sphere (TaLIS) expert group within the National Ignition Facility and Photon Sciences (NIF&PS) Directorate. In this pivotal role, you will provide both technical integration and coordination for the safe, effective, and integrated operation of the NIF Target Chamber and laser-target interaction region. You will collaborate closely with a diverse group of physicists, engineers, software developers, designers, and technicians to ensure that targets, diagnostics, and laser configurations are compatible with facility requirements and NIF standards for safety, cleanliness, and operational excellence.

This position is part of the Laser Systems Engineering & Operations (LSEO) Division within the Engineering Directorate and offers the opportunity to work at the forefront of large-scale, high-impact scientific research.

This position requires full-time on-site presence due to the nature of the work.

• Lead teams, programs, or functions with a technical focus, work independently with minimal direction, use advanced knowledge and team leadership experience, take significant responsibility, and exercise judgment within established policies to monitor workflow, allocate resources, ensure timely completion of projects, and achieve objectives while managing organizational impact.
• Establish project objectives and strategies for the TaLIS expert group and review and integrating experimental configurations for targets, diagnostics, and laser beams, ensuring compliance with Target Chamber geometry, facility limits, and operational requirements.
• Oversee TaLIS technical input and documentation throughout the NIF experimental lifecycle, including experiment definition, scheduling, planning, review, and setup phases, and guide stakeholders to execute the process in accordance with sponsor funding and integration expectations.
• Lead technical reviews and approvals of new or modified experimental configurations, ensuring solutions meet evolving program and facility requirements.
• Manage TaLIS action items, technical issues, and risk assessments across experimental campaigns, ensuring timely resolution, proper documentation, and clear communication of status and impacts.
• Maintain operational records, configuration verification data, and knowledge repositories for TaLIS, including experiment review packages, lookup tables, and lessons learned, and ensure quality standards for documentation and configuration traceability.
• Collaborate with physicists, engineers, and subject matter experts to resolve technical integration issues, including alignment of targets and diagnostics with laser configuration and Target Chamber constraints.
• Provide clear status and readiness reporting for TaLIS scope on experiments, including communication of facility limits, escalation of risks or non-conformances, and preparation of summary materials for management and experiment leads.
• Uphold rigorous engineering discipline by supporting compliance with NIF safety basis, facility procedures, and engineering change control, and by promoting traceability and quality assurance for TaLIS-relevant hardware, configurations, and operations.
• Develop and maintain supporting documentation such as integration checklists, configuration verification procedures, and guidance for experiment teams on TaLIS interfaces and constraints.
• Troubleshoot complex integration issues and resolve problems with support from subject matter experts, including off-shift support for critical operations as…