Technical Professional- Materials Analyst Member

Overview

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is seeking a ceramist, ceramics engineer, or material scientist with strong technical writing skills and demonstrated laboratory skills in mechanical testing and characterization of multifaceted material powders. This Technical Professional position will directly support the Program Director, Deputy Director, and a team of principal investigators with new and existing projects. The selected candidate will interact, support, and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team, assisting in the characterization of complex material mechanical responses of ceramic powders and similar material science research.

The role involves writing technical reports from partial documentation and archived material samples, working with researchers to ensure reports represent the work performed, and collaborating with a dedicated technical editor. The candidate will interface with the program office’s records management team, ensuring documentation is archived appropriately, and with ORNL publication review and clearance processes, including RESolution. In addition, the role will support ongoing material science work in the laboratory, conducting research including mechanical property testing and characterization in coordination with team members.

The hands‑on laboratory work is expected to increase as the candidate becomes familiar with the prior work through reporting.

The position resides in the Ceramics and Ceramic Composites (CCC) Group, Materials Processing Science (MPSE) Section of the Materials Science and Technology Division (MSTD), Physical Sciences Directorate (PSD) and involves collaboration with ORNL's National Security Sciences Directorate's Nuclear Nonproliferation Division and other ORNL research divisions.

• Independently write technical reports summarizing material descriptions and experimentation while collaboratively interpreting results and providing recommendations for future work, based on experiments performed by the team over the past decade.
• Coordinate the completion of the reports and their documentation through interaction with a technical editor, records managers, and the ORNL publication and release system.
• Organize and collaboratively perform mechanical evaluations of a wide range of materials including ceramics.
• Collaborate on the identification of techniques/equipment and interpretation of results from ceramic powder characterization and processing.
• Communicate status updates of current work to principal investigator(s) and program management.
• Ensure compliance with environmental, safety, health, and quality program requirements.
• Maintain strong dedication to the implementation and perpetuation of values and ethics.
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote equal opportunity by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.

• Bachelor's degree in materials science, ceramic engineering or related engineering field with a minimum of 5-7 years of relevant experience or master’s degree with 4-6 years of relevant experience.
• Experience with mechanical testing and ceramic powder characterization (e.g., particle size distribution, specific surface area, pycnometry and x‑ray diffraction, and tap density).

• Excellent technical writing skills.
• Master’s degree in ceramic engineering or materials science.
• Experience measuring the mechanical properties of brittle materials.
• Experience with mechanical compaction of materials.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Motivated self‑starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory.
• Ability to function well in a fast‑paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever‑changing needs.

• Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a clearance from the Department of Energy. As such, this position is a Workplace Substance Abuse (WSAP) testing designated position. WSAP positions require passing a pre‑placement drug test and participation in an ongoing random drug testing program.
• This position requires submission to random and incident‑specific polygraphs.
• Work involves various physical requirements and working conditions. As such, a pre‑hire physical will be required after offer.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply. UT‑Battelle is an E‑Verify employer.