Research Scientist - Multidisciplinary Program

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The National Security Directorate (NSD) drives science-based, mission-focused solutions to take on complex,real-world threats to our nation and the world.

The Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Technologies Division, within the National Security Directorate, works across fundamental science, research and development, and operations to counter emerging national security threats. We focus on discovering signatures and understanding threats by creating materials, methods, and technologies to detect and analyze them. Our researchers deliver solutions to address complex mission challenges, such as explosives detection, biological threat detection, chemical and nuclear forensics, and special nuclear materials.

This position is intended for a scientist who can bridge technical work and project execution. The successful candidate will contribute scientific and analytical expertise while helping coordinate people, resources, deliverables, and decisions across a complex research portfolio. The role may be tailored toward laboratory technical support, project coordination, or a combination of both, depending on the candidate’s experience and organizational needs.

The Mid-Level Scientist will provide technical, operational, and project support across multidisciplinary research and development activities. Responsibilities may include:

• Coordinate technical activities across multiple research tasks, ensuring consistent methods, documentation, personnel assignments, and deliverables.
• Support planning and execution of laboratory, analytical, and technology-development activities.
• Serve as a technical point of contact for scientists, engineers, project managers, facility personnel, and external sponsors.
• Help identify, communicate, and resolve technical, resource, facility, procurement, and schedule issues.
• Support laboratory and facility planning, including equipment needs, space coordination, configuration changes, and interactions with crafts and support organizations.
• Review technical documents, quarterly reports, work plans, presentations, and other project deliverables for accuracy, consistency, and clarity.
• Participate in project meetings, capture action items and decisions, and support follow-through across technical teams.
• Prepare technical briefings, status updates, figures, and other communications for internal leadership and external sponsors.
• Contribute to project planning, scope development, cost and schedule discussions, risk identification, and change management.
• Work collaboratively across organizational boundaries to coordinate shared resources and maintain project alignment.
• Develop toward increased responsibility in technical leadership, project leadership, or programmatic coordination.
• Depending on experience and project needs, perform or oversee laboratory and analytical work in support of research programs.
• Promote a positive, collaborative, and learning-oriented work environment, particularly during periods of changing scope, priorities, or project demands.
• Spans fundamental materials science to applied materials engineering.
• Synthesizes and studies the structures and physical/chemical properties of various natural, synthetic, and composite materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, semiconductors, polymers, rubber, glass, and combinations of these materials.
• Studies the structures of materials from atomic to large length scales and performs short- and long-term characterization, modeling, or testing of these materials to understand their behavior and determine ways to improve them or develop new materials with specific properties.
• Develops individual steps and combined processes for manufacturing, joining, finishing, treating, and strengthening materials.
• Develops computational models of materials that describe structures, properties, and performance of materials.
• Specific research areas include physics, chemistry, materials science, materials engineering, glass…