R&D Engineer 1​/2

What You Will Do

This position is open for external candidates only to apply.

This position will be filled at either the R&D Engineer 1 or 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.

The Detonation Science and Technology Group (Q-6) serves the Laboratory and the Nation providing the knowledge base and component design responsibilities for the Nuclear Weapons Program and other critical national security areas. The Group's capabilities include design engineering for nuclear weapon detonators and detonator cable assemblies, design, fabrication, qualification, and installation of test fire control systems, pulse power engineering, advanced detonator design and testing, and applied problem solving.

Additional capabilities include expertise in the detonation science and physics of detonator energetic materials, and engineering responsibility for the cradle to grave care of the detonators and detonator cable assemblies used by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Q-6 is also responsible for engineering, fabricating, or acquiring precision high explosives detonators for a diverse R&D customer base to meet present and future national security needs in a safe, secure, and efficient manner.

Q-6 is offering an opportunity to join the Detonation Science and Technology Group as an early-level R&D Engineer. You will work closely with a diverse team of engineers, technologists, and technicians on pulse power engineering, experimental facility integration with high-voltage capacitive discharge unit operations that support critical and high consequence experiments. We are looking for a thoughtful, collaborative engineer who enjoys solving real problems, learning quickly, and contributing to a team-oriented environment.

In this role, you'll help design and deliver high value projects end-to-end and support the development of tools and systems.

R&D Engineer 1 ($96,600 - $158,000)

R&D Engineer 2 ($106,400- $176,000)

Minimum

Job Requirements:

• Pulse power engineering, including hardware, software, electrical interfaces, printed wiring diagram (PWB) layouts, schematic development, and mechanical definitions for boards, chassis, and connectors
• Develop capacitive discharge units
  , including design, development, testing and documentation of all components and operations
• Experimental facility integrations
  , deployment of hardware, safety and hazard analysis, experimental execution involving high explosives
• Troubleshoot complex systems
  , using oscilloscopes, high-voltage test equipment, digital/analog diagnostics, and data-driven isolation methods
• Documentation of engineering work clearly
  , including test results, user documentation, lessons learned, version control notes, and integration guides

Position requires a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution related to the occupation combined with 2 years of related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and technical experience directly related to the occupation. Candidates that meet the degree requirement, but do not meet the 2-year minimum experience requirement are encouraged to apply and may be considered for hire through an exception process.

Position requires a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution and 4 years of related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.

• Experience with data processing electrical simulation, and PWB layout software
• Demonstrated skill in solving complex mixed-signal issues using advanced diagnostics (network analyzers, high-bandwidth scopes) and data-driven root-cause analysis
• Demonstrated excellence in technical documentation, producing integration guides, test reports, design notes, and engineering artifacts used by multi-disciplinary teams

• Strong background in mixed-signal circuit design, signal/power integrity, and PWB manufacturing or DFM practices
• Profi…