Power Experimental Electrical Engineer; R&D Engineer

What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the R&D Engineer 2 or 3 level, depending on the skills and experience of the selected candidate. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if the candidate is hired at the higher level.

M-6 is seeking a skilled and creative R&D Electrical Engineer to join the Explosive Applications and Special Projects (M-6) Group within Dynamic Experiments (M) Division. M-6 conducts research to study the initiation and performance of high explosives (HE) through mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic mechanisms. Our areas of expertise include non-shock initiation of HE, HE-driven pulsed-power, special energetic materials, and special security projects in service to the Laboratory, the nation, and other national security missions.

We develop and field custom experimental hardware, diagnostics, and initiation systems that combine high-speed analog and digital electronics, high-voltage and high-current fast-switching circuits, capacitor-discharge systems, and commercial-off-the-shelf modules into integrated assemblies.

This work includes:

• Translating experimental concepts, physical behavior, and technical requirements into fieldable electronic and electrical assemblies from initial design through fabrication, testing, integration, documentation, and field deployment
• Owning the technical lifecycle of the assemblies you create and serving as the subject matter expert for their design, operation, limitations, troubleshooting, and future modification
• Developing new and novel designs while sustaining, troubleshooting, documenting, and modernizing M-6's library of legacy designs
• Knowledge of analog electronics and the integration of digital controllers into analog circuits

This role is for an engineer who wants to work at the boundary between circuit design and experimental physics. Success requires learning the specialized physics of the loads and experiments these systems drive and applying that understanding to sound engineering decisions in close collaboration with scientists, modelers, technicians, and technologists.

The successful candidate will work with M-6 project leads and experimental teams on electronic design, experimental engineering, diagnostics, and fielded hardware. Rapid-prototyping equipment, Solid Works, electronic design software, external circuit board fabrication shops, and general diagnostic and test equipment are available to support this work. At the R&D Engineer 2 level, the candidate is expected to independently own well-defined design tasks and retain technical ownership of the assemblies they create.

The Level 2 position is expected to:

• Design, analyze, fabricate, test, verify, document, and field analog and digital electronic assemblies, including high-voltage, high-current, fast-switching and pulsed-power circuits
• Translate experimental requirements and relevant physical behavior into electrical requirements, interfaces, component selections, design margins, and test plans
• Serve as the technical point of contact and subject matter expert for assigned designs through integration, fielding, troubleshooting, repair, and modification
• Participate in brainstorming and technical planning with customers and team members to define technical approaches, interfaces, risks, and schedules
• Collaborate with scientists, modelers, technicians, and technologists to ensure designs perform as intended in the experimental environment
• Rapidly iterate designs based on analysis, test results, and field experience, and clearly communicate the design basis, results, and limitations
• Maintain, troubleshoot, repair, document, and modernize legacy systems while preserving and understanding their original design intent

In addition to the duties outlined above, an R&D Engineer 3 will be expected to:

• Lead the design, verification, and fielding of complex or novel experimental electrical assemblies and make technical decisions when requirements or operating conditions are ambiguous
• Serve as a technical leader and subject matter expert across a broader portfolio of high-power,…