Cleared Senior​/Principal R&D Mechanical Engineer - Explosive Components Product Realization Tea

About Sandia

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting‑edge work in a broad array of areas.

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co‑workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten‑hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part‑time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

* These benefits vary by job classification.

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As an Explosive Component Production Agency (PA) PRT Lead in Department 7452, you will partner with the Design Agency (DA) in Department 7453 to drive the W87‑1 Detonator into Full Scale Production. You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the current DA PRT as the product completes its PPI and QE builds, then fully assume responsibilities and achieve the First Production Unit (FPU) milestone and enter Full Scale Mark Quality (MQ) production.

You will lead a cross‑functional Production PRT integrating Product, design, Manufacturing, Surety, and Materials engineers, along with Business support and EMSAT’s Process Engineering and Technologist experts to deliver Mark Quality hardware to the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile and directly impact the mission. This role provides an excellent opportunity to gain experience as a PRT lead alongside an existing strong DA PRT, successfully transition a new product into Production, and pave the way for future Detonator Production, including the W93.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Integrate with and learn from the DA PRT capturing design intent, process flows, and lessons learned, then transition into PRT leadership as the W87‑1 moves into production.
• Support PPI and QE builds as well as Qualification to achieve QER (Qualification Evaluation Release) and FPU.
• Own the PA PRT’s end‑to‑end scope and deliverables—negotiate requirements and commitments, establish cost and schedule baselines, and lead risk and opportunity management.
• Lead PRT meetings: create agendas, facilitate meetings, drive consensus on roles and ground rules, record decisions and action items, and maintain the project records.
• Manage cost, schedule, and resources to deliver subsequent War Reserve (WR) Builds: maintain and status a resource‑loaded schedule, track expenditures, partner with production team and PPVS, and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Prove in production processes in tight coordination with Department 7457’s Process Engineering and Technologist teams.
• Apply data‑driven problem solving: design experiments, analyze production metrics, perform root‑cause and failure analyses, and implement corrective and preventive actions to optimize yield, throughput, and cost.
• Drive lean manufacturing and statistical process control initiatives, leveraging synergies across detonator product lines to elevate quality and efficiency.
• Interface with customers and stakeholders, using Sandia systems (Oracle, SharePoint, Teams, P6, etc.) to align on technical performance, schedule, and deliverables.
• Lead and participate in Program Reviews, Design Reviews, and TRL/MRL evaluations; capture lessons learned and conduct post‑mortems to continually refine Sandia’s explosive Product Realization Process.
• Participate actively in efficient Manufacturing Feasibility and Design (MFD) and Design for Manufacturability (DFM) processes to identify potential production challenges early, support design optimization, and facilitate seamless transition from prototype to scalable manufacturing.
• Manage product definition artifacts—graphic drawings,…