Operations Research Engineer

Operations Research Engineer - Physics World

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Company Description

Are you interested in joining some of the brightest talent in the world to strengthen the United States’ security? Come join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where our employees apply their expertise to create solutions for BIG ideas that make our world a better place. We are dedicated to fostering a culture that values individuals, talents, partnerships, ideas, experiences, and different perspectives, recognizing their importance to the continued success of the Laboratory’s mission.

Pay Range $117,180 - $178,392 Annually
$117,180 $ 148,608 Annually at the SES.
1 level
$140,700 - $178,392 Annually at the SES.
2 level
This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting; pay will not be below any applicable local minimum wage.
An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

Job Description

This position is in the Computational Engineering Division (CED) within the Engineering Directorate. The role will support ongoing efforts in strategic capacity expansion planning and infrastructure interdiction, and support other research and analysis initiatives under investigation by the Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and/or other U.S. Government partners. Work with experienced LLNL scientists and engineers and contribute to new numerical methods and analysis tools that provide insights to inform near and long‑term strategy and technology decisions.

• Perform defined work supporting the development of optimization models for energy networks, including formulation, implementation, solution, analysis and communication.
• Support the construction of coherent datasets to feed long‑term optimal capacity expansion models of energy systems, including technology costs, geographical characteristics, regulatory frameworks, human factors, climate and extreme weather events, among others.
• Contribute to cross‑functional and multi‑disciplinary teams to solve technical problems.
• Provide solutions to limited‑complex problems related to modeling and simulation, or other technical analyses.
• Contribute information, fulfillment and findings from studies.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Perform defined work of moderate complexity aiding with contribution to the development of analytical frameworks providing insight to customers on various challenges.
• Work under limited direction to design and implement numerical methods, techniques and evaluation criteria while exercising independent judgment.
• Explore a variety of approaches within generally established methods. Make recommends improvements/processes as appropriate.
• Contribute to the overall fulfillment of project and organizational goals.

• Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q‑level security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.
• Master's degree in physical science, engineering, operations research, economics or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and related experience.
• Ability to use and apply standard technical and/or business principles, theories, concepts, and techniques.
• Demonstrated competence in one or more scientific programming languages, such as Python, Julia, C++, R, Matlab, or Rust.
• Demonstrated ability to implement mathematical optimization problems using at least one algebraic modeling language, such as Pyomo (preferred), Gurobipy, JuMP, AMPL, GAMS, among others, and use standard solver packages‑such as Gurobi, CBC, HiGHS, or Ipopt, among others—to solve them.
• Proficient verbal and written communication skills necessary to effectively collaborate in a team environment and present and explain technical information.

• Demonstrated…