R&D Engineer

Position: R&D Engineer 1/2
** What You Will Do*
* The Accelerator Operations and Technology Division (AOT), Instrumentation and Controls (IC) group is seeking a Magnet Power Supply engineer.

The AOT division maintains, operates, and upgrades all accelerator systems used at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) complex. These consist of two 750-keV Cockcroft-Walton-based injector systems (H+ and H- systems), a 201.25-MHz drift tube linear accelerator utilizing high-power diacrode tubes, an 805-MHz coupled cavity linac utilizing klystrons as the primary power source, a proton storage ring, and roughly a kilometer of beam transport lines that feed beam to the five independent research programs.

The IC group is principally responsible for all instrumentation and controls hardware and software, and high-power DC power supplies used to operate magnets on the beam transport lines. The Magnet Power Supply team controls and monitors the various power supplies used to drive the magnets that are critical to the high performance and successful operation of the accelerator. The AOT-IC group consists of four teams: (1) Magnet Power Supplies (MPS), (2) IC-Hardware (3) IC-Software and (4) Artificial Intelligence/Machine learning (AI/ML)

** This position will be filled at the R&D Engineer 1 level or the R&D Engineer 2 level, depending on the skills of the selected candidate.  Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if the candidate is hired at the higher level.*
* ** R&D Engineer 1 $ 96,600 - $158,000*
* As a member of the AOT-IC Magnet Power Supplies team, the successful candidate, working closely with other engineers, scientists, technologists, and technicians, will contribute to the operation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of LANSCE DC magnet power supplies systems, low voltage power supplies and associated electronics.

The position will also involve working under the direction of senior engineers to plan and implement new magnet power systems, e.g., magnet temperature monitoring systems, interlocks, synchronized modulated AC power supplies, and related power electronic systems, and analysis, control, and diagnostic systems.

The successful candidate will also provide on-call support for the LANSCE Magnet Power Supplies team after hours and on weekends.  The on-call assignment will typically be one week per month during accelerator operations, which span about seven months in the year.

** R&D Engineer 2 $ 106,400 - $176,000*
* In addition to what was outlined at the lower level, the position at this level will be responsible for planning and managing maintenance activities and analyzing magnet power systems data to inform design enhancements for improving performance and reliability.

The successful candidate will also provide power electronics expertise to all segments of the group, particularly in the areas related to Power supply systems and the equipment required to operate them.  There will also be opportunities to work with other researchers on special projects across the laboratory.

** What You Need*
* ** Minimum

Job Requirements:

*
* ** Minimum

Job Requirements for R&D Engineer 1:*
* + Knowledge of and experience in reading and understanding schematics.

+ Knowledge of and undergraduate training in electrical engineering fields that support competency in electrical engineering such as AC/DC conversion and power engineering.

+ Demonstrated verbal communication and interpersonal skills, and experience in effectively producing written documents.

+ Knowledge of and experience in accomplishing technical tasks while working independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team with engineers, scientists, and technicians.

** In addition to the requirements outlined above, qualification at the higher level requires:*
* + Demonstrated record of contributions to the design, development, testing, and installation of high-voltage, high-current, power electronics, and high precision AC/DC conversion.

+ Demonstrated experience working as part of a team to develop high-voltage/high-current systems.

+ Demonstrated recent and successful hands-on experience troubleshooting, installing, and testing AC/DC rectifier power…