Monte Carlo Codes Postdoctoral Research Associate

What You Will Do

The Monte Carlo Codes Group (XCP-3, https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).) at Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking an early career postdoctoral researcher to join our world-class team! The successful applicant will gain experience in Monte Carlo particle transport methods and code development with one of the world's foremost Monte Carlo particle transport teams.

XCP-3 provides the Monte Carlo particle transport capability needed to accurately predict the interaction of radiation with matter. Our predictive capability is the world's foremost predictive tool for nuclear criticality safety simulations and plays a central role in many fields including nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, radiation detection, and radiation safety.

The successful applicant will perform research and development to improve modeling and simulation capabilities in areas that support the national-security programs and mission of the Laboratory.

XCP-3 develops the widely used Monte Carlo N-Particle® (MCNP®) code () and the Monte Carlo Application Toolkit (MCATK) and associated capabilities. Our work supports a variety of Laboratory missions, including stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation, threat reduction, and energy and environmental sciences. We deliver technology, methods, production quality codes, and training to sponsors, primarily U.S. federal agencies, through research, development, and maintenance of high-quality software and documentation.

We are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to contribute to the modernization of electron transport capabilities in the MCNP code. The successful candidate will support the development of advanced Monte Carlo transport methods and the integration of modern scientific software practices. Responsibilities include developing and maintaining high-performance scientific software in Fortran, C/C++, and Python; conducting verification and validation (V&V) studies for electron transport and coupled multi-particle transport physics;

performing software testing, benchmarking, and documentation; and supporting modern software engineering workflows, including version control and continuous integration.

The candidate will work collaboratively with researchers who have expertise in computational physics, particle transport, and nuclear engineering to improve the accuracy, robustness, and maintainability of next-generation electron transport capabilities in the MCNP code. This position will also provide opportunities to present research at professional conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and build a strong professional network within the computational radiation transport community.

Minimum

Job Requirements:

Candidates must have a strong background in Monte Carlo particle transport methods and/or other scientific software development, knowledge of electron/photon transport physics, and strong programming skills in Fortran and/or C++ as well as Python.

Candidates must have proficiency in technical communication including effective written and verbal skills with the ability to communicate with diverse audiences. This can be demonstrated and will be exercised through informal presentations and reports to teams, formal reports and presentations to colleagues and/or review committees, and interactions with professional audiences at meetings, conferences, and workshops. Candidates are expected to demonstrate ongoing progress and accomplishments through publishing research and development results in peer-reviewed proceedings and journals.

Teamwork is essential to the success of our group. As such, candidates will need to have demonstrated the ability to function effectively in a team environment with a willingness to learn new skills and be flexible in work assignments. This includes exhibiting professional conduct in interactions with colleagues and co-workers.

The candidate must have the ability to obtain a DOE Q Clearance, which typically requires US Citizenship.

Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related field completed within the past five years (or soon to be completed).

• Familiarity with MCNP and/or MCATK and other particle transport codes (e.g., ITS, Geant4, OpenMC, Shift, Serpent) and application areas.
• Parallelization frameworks such as OpenMP and OpenMPI.
• Linux-based software development environments and infrastructure such as git, Gitlab (including continuous integration and delivery automation), and CMake.
• Document preparation and maintenance software such as BibTeX, LaTeX, and/or LyX.
• Other large-scale scientific software and modern HPC features such as parallel file systems, HDF5 data files, and Slurm queue management.
• Knowledge of numerical methods, statistical analysis, and/or uncertainty quantification.
• Experience with scientific software verification and/or validation.
• Interest in scientific software design, testing, and performance…