Cleared Senior​/Principal RD Mechanical Engineer - Explosive Components Product Realization Team

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. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• 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*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..gov

These benefits vary by job classification.

The Explosive Component Production department (7452) within Sandia
¿ s Explosive Technologies Group (7450) serves as the internal Production Agency (PA) for critical energetic components supporting Life Extension Programs (LEPs), Alterations (ALTs), legacy stockpile sustainment, and new-system development for the Nuclear Deterrence mission. As a Product Realization Team (PRT) Lead, you will lead a multidisciplinary team
¿ integrating Product, Design, Manufacturing, Surety, Materials, and Process Engineering
¿ to transition developmental designs into full‑scale Mark Quality (MQ) production. You will partner closely with Design Agency (DA) teams, internal production floors, and external suppliers to deliver hardware to the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile with uncompromising safety, technical rigor, and quality.

• Own the PA PRT
  ¿ s end-to-end technical scope, schedule, and deliverables, establishing baseline commitments and driving risk and opportunity management
• Facilitate and lead cross-functional PRT meetings, drive consensus on technical decisions, maintain action items, and manage configuration records
• Partner with Project Controls and production planners to build, status, and execute resource-loaded schedules (e.g., P6) and manage project budgets/WBS
• Coordinate closely with Process Engineering and Technologist teams to prove in and qualify manufacturing processes on the production floor
• Guide hardware through build cycles (e.g., PPI, QE, WR) to achieve Qualification Evaluation Releases (QER) and First Production Unit (FPU) milestones
• Apply data-driven engineering methods
  ¿ including root‑cause analysis, statistical process control (SPC), design of experiments (DOE), and lean manufacturing
  ¿ to optimize yield, throughput, and product reliability
• Participate in Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Manufacturing Feasibility and Design (MFD) reviews with Design Agency counterparts to resolve producibility challenges early
• Author and manage product definition artifacts, including product/process specifications, graphic drawings (with GD&T), and Engineering Authorizations (CER, QER, FCO) within enterprise systems (PRIME/eDPM)
• Lead and support technical reviews (Conceptual/Preliminary/Final Design Reviews, TRL/MRL assessments, and program milestones), capturing lessons learned to advance Sandia's product realization processes
• Mentor and develop team members, fostering a collaborative, safety-focused, and high‑rigor production environment

Occasional travel may be required.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

$117,500 - $235,700

• Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

• 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…