ASD Senior Engineer; R&D Engineer

What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the R&D Engineer 3 or R&D Engineer 4 level, depending on the skills, education, and experience of the selected candidate. The Advanced Sources and Detector (ASD) Project is seeking a senior engineer to serve as either the Accelerator Coordinator or Lead Design Engineer (LDE) for the Scorpius project, a ~20 MeV linear induction electron accelerator located in the U1a complex 963 feet below grade at the Nevada National Security Site.

Responsibilities include final design execution, procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, and commissioning of the accelerator system within a ~$180M scope.

The Accelerator Coordinator works with Accelerator Control Account Managers and the Technical Leader to ensure that all project requirements are documented and that contracts are executed in accordance with technical, quality, cost, and schedule objectives. The coordinator oversees the assembly and testing of components, coordinates with vendors, and provides daily support to the Control Account Managers and Senior Team Leader.

• Coordinate fabrication, assembly, and testing of the Scorpius accelerator subsystem, including managing design changes.
• Ensure procurement, fabrication, and documentation meet quality assurance and 413.3B project requirements.
• Work with the Cost Account Manager to meet cost and schedule objectives and identify performance‑improvement opportunities.
• Implement value‑engineering opportunities during production and testing.
• Support accelerator installation and integration at the Integrated Test Stand and U1a as appropriate.

The Lead Design Engineer (LDE) leads the engineering team for the ASD Project, overseeing final design, updates, procurement, fabrication, assembly, installation, and commissioning of the accelerator, downstream transport, and ancillary systems. The LDE provides engineering oversight throughout the project lifecycle and interfaces with vendors on technical concerns.

• Serve as the responsible engineer per the ASD Design Engineering Procedure, preparing design products that meet form, fit, and function requirements and applicable design standards.
• Perform structural, thermal, and other engineering analyses and reports to support the design.
• Prepare inspection, assembly, and test procedures for procurements and commissioning.
• Provide engineering support for final design, procurement, fabrication, assembly, installation, commissioning, and transition to operations.
• Interface with procurement staff, QA, and vendors to ensure LANL designs meet requirements and drawings.
• Collaborate with technical staff and QA to resolve supplier non‑conformances.
• Offer technical support for vendor visits, product inspections, and component installation at the Integrated Test Stand and U1a complex.
• Mentor junior R&D Engineers and provide day‑to‑day guidance for the engineering team.

• Accelerator Engineering:
  Experience with accelerator vacuum, thermal management, control systems, machine alignment, testing, maintenance, and operations; generate documentation for design, procurement, testing, and QA/QC.
• Design Engineering:
  Experience with precision machine design and fabrication, GD&T and national code standards, structural design and analysis, thermal analysis; proficiency in Creo and PDMLink.
• Project Leadership & Practices:
  Experience in a fast‑paced project environment meeting technical needs and deliverables; familiarity with design, configuration control, procurement, and nonconformance processes.
• Communication and Teamwork:
  Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills with coworkers, vendors, customers, and management; proven record of teamwork and leadership in diverse teams.
• Education/
  
  Experience:
  
  Master’s Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution and 6 years of related experience, or equivalent education and experience. A Ph.D. may be preferred.

• Accelerator Engineering Expertise:
  Extensive experience in engineering of accelerator systems, including vacuum, thermal,…