Cleared Senior/Principal Systems Engineer - Space Systems, Onsite (Colorado Springs, CO)

About the job

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://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

We are seeking a cleared, experienced Space Systems Engineer to be an on-site customer liaison that sits with the US Space Force customer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The person occupying this role will represent Sandia programs to the Operational Test & Training Program Office, Space Warfighting Analysis Center, and Space Security and Defense Program Office.

The selected candidate will serve as an on-site technical representative and systems-engineering integrator, representing Sandia's modeling, simulation, mission-analysis, and systems-engineering capabilities to multiple government customers. The role requires the technical judgment and leadership to build trusted customer relationships; translate complex mission needs into executable technical and analytic work; coordinate distributed Sandia teams and integration partners; evaluate the mission relevance and fitness-for-use of technical results; and communicate technically rigorous, decision-quality findings to senior stakeholders.

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

• Serve as Sandia's on-site technical representative for government customers supporting classified space security, defense, test, training, modeling and simulation, and mission-analysis activities; provide customer-facing systems-engineering coordination and technical leadership across Sandia technical teams and integration partners.

• Build trusted working relationships with customer technical leaders, program managers, analysts, and operational stakeholders, and communicate Sandia capabilities, technical findings, risks, assumptions, and recommendations.

• Translate customer mission needs and technical questions into executable Sandia model-development and analysis work, including objectives, technical requirements, assumptions, measures, deliverables, and execution plans.

• Coordinate Sandia-developed model-delivery activities for use in mission-level, system-of-systems, distributed, or high-fidelity simulation environments.

• Provide systems-engineering and customer-facing coordination for model integration, including intended use, technical interfaces, dependencies, assumptions, data-exchange expectations, configuration needs, verification and validation planning, and resolution of cross-organizational technical issues.

• Coordinate Sandia organizations conducting mission analysis, modeling and simulation, system assessments, and related technical studies; integrate results into clear products, briefings, and recommendations for customer decisions.

• Apply technical judgment to help customers and Sandia teams understand the appropriate use, assumptions, uncertainty, limitations, and mission implications of model and analysis results.

• Identify and facilitate technically appropriate collaboration among customer organizations and Sandia teams, including opportunities to apply existing Sandia capabilities to emerging mission needs.

• Support Sandia technical program and program-management leadership with technical objectives, statements of work, work packages, milestone plans, customer engagements, and proposals for new or expanded work.

• Protect classified information and exercise sound professional judgment in handling sensitive mission, customer, technical, and programmatic details.

The person in this role will report daily to the project leads they are supporting and be supervised by a Manager who are all located in Albuquerque, NM. Thus this person will be expected to effectively and professionally operate in a remote location with minimal supervision. Regular onsite work in Colorado Springs, CO is expected of the selected applicant.

Salary Range:

*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.

Qualifications We Require:

• 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 knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.

• Active DOE Q and SCI clearances, or equivalent.

Qualifications We Desire:

The ideal R&D S&E Systems Engineering candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).

• Experience working with Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) laboratories and plants including Pantex, Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Kansas City National Security Campus/New Mexico Operations (KCNSC/NMO)

• Experience working on engineering design, qualification, production, or related modeling/simulation projects.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• Fifteen or more years of progressively responsible technical experience supporting national-security missions, including customer-facing technical leadership, systems engineering, mission analysis, modeling and simulation, or technical-program integration.

• Experience supporting national-security space, missile defense, command and control, test and training, intelligence, acquisition, operational analysis, or related mission domains.

• Experience supporting U.S. Space Force, DoW test and training organizations, space security and defense programs, or related acquisition and force-development activities.

• Experience serving as a technical bridge between an on-site government customer and geographically distributed engineering, modeling, simulation, and analysis teams.

• Experience providing technical leadership, systems-engineering coordination, or customer-facing oversight for development, delivery, integration, verification, validation, and fitness-for-intended-use assessment of models used in mission-level or distributed simulations.

• Experience framing, directing, coordinating, or integrating analysis for high-consequence acquisition, operational, test/training, or force-development decisions.

• Experience contributing to technical scope definition, statements of work, work planning, acquisition support, proposal development, or customer-funded research-and-development efforts.

• Experience in systems engineering, mission analysis, modeling and simulation, architecture development, technical program support, or technical integration.

• Experience providing systems-engineering leadership, technical oversight, or customer-facing coordination for integration of complex subsystem or component models into system-of-systems, mission-level, distributed, or high-fidelity simulation environments.

• Experience coordinating technical work across government, laboratory, FFRDC, UARC, industry, or other multi-organization teams.

• Demonstrated technical judgment and leadership in evaluating complex technical issues, defining feasible paths forward, and guiding multidisciplinary teams toward mission-relevant outcomes.

• Demonstrated ability to translate sponsor needs and complex mission questions into clear technical objectives, analytic tasks, requirements, statements of work, or execution plans.

• Demonstrated ability to prepare and deliver technically rigorous, decision-quality briefings or written products for senior government and technical leaders.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently in an on-site customer environment while coordinating effectively with remote technical teams and institutional leadership.

• Ability to obtain and maintain required program accesses, including SAP and Reserve accesses.

About Our Team:

We provide architectures and enabling technologies for pathfinding space-based solutions to national security problems. 6353's focus is on expansion and evolution of space control and space cyber mission capabilities, from mission modeling to prototype demonstration. Responsibilities of 6353 are to foster research and develop solutions in the areas of Space Cyber and Space Control and nurture strategic partnerships with various government agencies, universities, and industry partners operating and supporting space missions.

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance:

Position requires a Department of Energy (DOE) SCI security clearance to start, or equivalent active security clearance with another U.S. government agency (e.g., DOD). 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 and SCI access, both of which require US citizenship. SCI access may also require a polygraph examination. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain these levels of access 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 the 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.

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.

Job ID: 699566

Job Family: RD

Regular/Temporary Position: R

Full/Part-Time Status: F