Materials Scientist - Radiation Effects

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, including the ‘posting date’. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

Salary Range:

$101,400 - $201,400 *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.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

Do you dream of teaming with world-class experts and harnessing pioneering facilities to resolve some of the most challenging issues facing our national security? Join our dynamic team exploring the survivability of materials and components in extreme environments!

We are seeking a dedicated scientist who is eager to develop expertise in radiation-induced material responses. You will team across Sandia National Laboratories and its partners to explore both fundamental materials research and national-security applications. These collaborations, which will involve both ground breaking experimentation and advanced computation, enable otherwise unattainable scientific achievements and real-world impacts.

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

• Subject advanced materials to intense radiation at DOE-flagship facilities, including the Z Facility at SNL (the world’s most powerful and efficient laboratory radiation source) and the National Ignition Facility at LLNL (the world’s most powerful laser)

• Collaborate with pioneering materials fabricators to probe the fundamentals of prototype materials uniquely developed to withstand extreme environments

• Team with specialists in computational modeling and material development to discover behaviors of new materials

• Join multidisciplinary teams to develop new technologies and components in a burgeoning field with applications for nuclear deterrence

A flexible blend of remote and onsite work is available. Some travel will be required for conferences, project meetings and experiments.

Join our team and pursue your dreams while making a difference!

Qualifications We Require:

• PhD in Materials Science or a related STEM field

• Experience analyzing and presenting scientific results as demonstrated through conference presentations and/or peer-reviewed publications or similar program reviews

• Ability to acquire and maintain a DOE Q clearance

Qualifications We Desire:

• THEORY: Broad knowledge of materials science, especially shock physics and the physics of the interaction of radiation and matter

• TESTING: Expertise with the design, execution, and assessment of large-scale experiments, especially materials characterizations and environment diagnostics at pulsed-power facilities.

• MODELING: Familiarity with the limitations and goals of computationally simulating material responses, especially radiation-induced shock.

• INNOVATION: Experience with submitting, executing, and reporting on scientific proposals, especially on fundamental materials science.

• DEVELOPMENT: Experience with designing, developing, and qualifying products, especially for Sandia’s mission.

• TEAMING: Experience with forming, supporting, and managing diverse teams, especially spanning both experimentalists and computationalists.

• CHARACTERIZING: Familiarity with standard material characterization techniques and material evaluation from exposure to benchtop-scale short pulse laser light or electron beams.

About Our Team:

The Radiation Effects Research Department conducts research and development involving intense radiation environments. All radiation effects from nuclear detonations (x rays, gamma rays, neutrons, electromagnetic pulse, etc.), natural and enhanced space environments, and in situ radiation are included. Research is in the broad areas of radiation effects in materials, radiation effects in electronics, and research in accelerator technologies with a primary emphasis in advancing nuclear weapons survivability.

A major role for the department is to provide design consultation and hostile radiation qualification assessment of nuclear weapons to Sandia’s system design, component design, and new technology groups. Active research in advanced materials includes response of materials and components to intense X-rays encompassing phenomena such as thermal, structural, shock and impulse responses and related experiment diagnostics. Research in radiation effects in electronics and optoelectronics spans scales from individual devices to circuits to system-wide effects involving phenomena such as transient dose rate effects, total ionizing dose effects (TID) and single event effects (SEE). Accelerator technology research and development is primarily focused on enhancing Sandia’s Saturn and HERMES accelerator environments and diagnostics to improve the fidelity and capability of these unique major test facilities for simulating a range of hostile radiation environments within the laboratory. This team is part of the Radiation, Electrical and High Energy Density Science (REHEDS) Research Foundation at Sandia.

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 vacations, 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://www.sandia.gov*These benefits vary by job classification.

Security Clearance:

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

Job ID: 689553