Cleared Capacity Building Lead - Systems Reasearch and Analysis, Remote

Cleared Capacity Building Lead - Systems Research and Analysis, Remote

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Capacity Building Lead to lead and contribute to complex, multidisciplinary systems engineering projects supporting national and international security missions. This role requires a deep understanding of systems engineering principles, scientific methods, and engineering disciplines to design, develop, and deliver innovative solutions for capacity building for nuclear/radiological material protection and security systems.

The Systems Research and Analysis Engineer will collaborate with diverse partners including international and domestic government agencies, U.S. government laboratories, NGOs, industry, and academia. The position demands leadership in system conceptualization, design architecture, integration, verification, and validation, with a focus on capacity building for physical protection systems and sustainability of deployed technologies.

Lead and execute integrated systems engineering efforts to develop and implement nuclear/radiological physical protection and security systems, embedding capacity building strategies to ensure sustainable operational effectiveness and knowledge transfer.

Collaborate with project managers, customers, and multidisciplinary teams to negotiate and define system requirements, develop conceptual designs, and decompose system‑level requirements into achievable subsystem specifications, while fostering stakeholder capability development throughout the project lifecycle.

Conduct vulnerability analyses, acceptance testing, and system-level trade studies to optimize performance, cost, and schedule, incorporating training and knowledge-sharing components to build end‑user and operator proficiency.

Apply scientific methods and systems engineering processes to innovate, test, and evaluate new designs, concepts, and technologies, ensuring that capacity building is integrated into solution deployment for long-term resilience.

Develop and deliver international training programs and workshops focused on physical security systems, transportation security, and first responder tactics, designed to enhance local and partner organizations
¿ technical skills and operational readiness.

Write clear technical proposals, statements of work, and coordinate with internal Sandia organizations such as Procurement, Export Control, and Business Partners, emphasizing capacity building deliverables and sustainability in project scopes.

Lead anomaly resolution teams through root cause analysis and solution evaluation, incorporating lessons learned into training materials and capacity building initiatives to prevent recurrence.

Provide frequent presentations and written reports to management, sponsors, and diverse stakeholders, highlighting capacity building outcomes and the impact of engineered solutions on organizational capabilities.

Promote defect prevention and risk mitigation through proactive systems engineering practices.

Travel domestically and internationally up to 30‑40% of the time to support program objectives and partner engagements.

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
• Active DOE Q clearance or equivalent.

• Graduate degree in a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Ability to understand, synthesize, and draw insights from multiple types of data streams (technical, economic, policy) through the use of various analytical tools.
• Experience working as part of multi-disciplinary teams examining complex systems.
• Knowledge of the fundamentals of good project management, especially as it pertains to the execution of federally-funded work.
• Experience working with federal sponsors in the defense and intelligence sectors, as well as their domestic…