Quality Engineer; R&D Engineer

What You Will Do

Do you want to be part of an energetic, high performing team working on challenges and deliverables that ensure national security? Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution with the brightest minds in the world and unparalleled technology and equipment. Production Assurance Engineering (PA-1) ensures that all products in the Weapons Production Directorate meet or exceed all quality requirements.

As an R&D Engineer (Quality) 1, you will support the Weapons Production Directorate Production Assurance Engineering (PA-1) group by ensuring quality assurance results, materials, processes and final products meet quality requirements and are completed according to established processes. You will utilize a graded approach to quality, including the application of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) principles based on risk to the product, follow well‑defined policies, apply problem‑solving methods to support the development and qualification of capable measurement methods and manufacturing processes, and support the development of process‑control methods to identify failure modes, track trends, recommend improvements, and monitor process capability.

You will also support the development of weapons quality systems and production processes. Solid experience in an engineering discipline and the ability to act as an individual contributor are required.

• Safety and security are a primary responsibility for all Laboratory employees. Assures safety and security compliance, maintains required training, and incorporates safety and security into every task.
• Develops a technical approach, uses judgment within defined practices, and makes technical decisions for assigned work.
• Contributes to the completion of milestones associated with specific projects and may contribute to programmatic objectives.
• Understands and adheres to Laboratory and industry regulatory guidance and governance specific to QA.
• Ensures that QA results, materials, processes, and final products meet specifications and are completed according to established requirements.
• Coordinates the preparation of QA procedures for review, approval, and issue tracking in accordance with approved Laboratory procedures.
• Writes or reviews technical and performance specifications, quality levels, sampling plans, and inspection plans or procedures.
• Takes responsibility for understanding tasks and own contributions to deliverables and manages own assignments.
• Coordinates, prepares, and reviews QA inspection reports, certificates of compliance and conformance, and related test reports to determine validity.
• Coordinates and reports on selected engineering and procurement documents to assure inclusion of applicable quality requirements.
• Fosters a mutually respectful and inclusive work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.

In addition to the duties of R&D Engineer 1, you will apply quality engineering principles to a broad set of QA and QC activities within one or more engineering disciplines to support an effective implementation of the quality management system. Broad professional expertise in an engineering discipline and independent functioning as a skilled engineer are required.

• Applies engineering and scientific principles, techniques, methods, and tools to provide solutions for complex problems requiring causal relationships that are difficult to establish.
• Develops technical approaches and new methods, using creativity in standard practices, which lead to new or improved capabilities.
• Sets direction and goals for well‑defined tasks involving more than one person, scopes tasks within a project, defines deliverables, and leads specific tasks to meet scope, schedule, and budget.
• Provides peer review of the work of others across organizations or disciplines.
• Develops mentoring skills to mentor junior staff and peers in technical and professional growth.
• Maintains state‑of‑the‑art technical expertise within the discipline, develops new skills in related disciplines, and attains additional certifications or…