Production Liaison Engineer; R&D Engineer

What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the R&D Engineer 3 or R&D Engineer 4 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.

The Weapon Systems Engineering (W) Production Liaison Group (W‑8) is seeking an experienced R&D Engineer level 3 or 4 to join our team. W‑8 is the Design Agency representative to the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) production plants to ensure that weapon production activities at the production agencies meet design requirements and intent. The group member liaisons are responsible for the daily interactions with the Production Agencies at LANL, Kansas City National Security Campus, Pantex Plant, and Y‑12 National Security Complex—surrounding the design, manufacture, qualification, and certification of products.

In addition, the group includes ALDW records stewardship via document configuration management (DCM), and formal site‑to‑site communications via engineering authorizations (EA).

The successful candidate will support production activities for the B61, W76, W78, W88, and W93 weapons programs at the PA. Activities may include assisting with hardware provisioning for local, joint, flight, and hydro tests, and system engineering support for product definition. The selected candidate will partner with the PA in resolving issues relating to nuclear weapon production and integrity, participate in site reviews, approve PA procedures and process changes, and provide the technical interface between the PA and the LANL systems engineering and physics communities.

The candidate will also provide detailed knowledge, information, and experience related to weapon component manufacturing methods to the PA, represent LANL at programmatic meetings, and assist in any special projects required by LANL management.

In addition to the responsibilities above, the R&D Engineer 4 level will be expected to work with group management to develop and execute strategic plans aimed at improving overall production capabilities, reducing single‑point failures, and building partnerships with the PAs. They will serve as a technical mentor to early‑ and mid‑career staff and represent group management as needed.

This position is located onsite in Amarillo, Texas at the PANTEX Plant.

Thorough knowledge of engineering principles to provide solutions in one or more of the following disciplines: material science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering or other relevant engineering. Demonstrated ability to interpret mechanical drawings and specifications. Functional knowledge of the B61, W76, W78, W88, and the W93 Weapon Systems in regard to production and operation. Demonstrated experience with nuclear weapons production, production certification of special nuclear materials, and components applicable to the various Los Alamos designed Weapon Systems.

Demonstrated ability to meet schedule and deliverables for multiple concurrent projects with a range of priorities.

Demonstrated ability to lead projects, assemble teams across multiple organizations, establish project plans, assign tasks to team members, and report progress. Demonstrated ability to identify, address, and resolve technical problems. Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimum supervision, as well as effectively as part of a team in a multi‑discipline environment. Demonstrated ability to generate and apply innovative approaches to solve complex problems.

Demonstrated ability to meet schedule and deliverables for multiple concurrent projects with a range of priorities and within budget constraints.

Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with all levels of NSE personnel including internal and external customers to provide solutions to complex problems. Experience with Product Realization Teams (PRTs) during the concurrent engineering/process development, process prove‑in, engineering evaluation, qualification and production phases. Experience mentoring less experienced personnel, team…