Principal Optical Engineer

Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (MSTS) manages and operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).  Our MISSION is to help ensure the security of the United States and its allies by providing high-hazard experimentation and incident response capabilities through operations, engineering, education, field, and integration services and by acting as environmental stewards to the Site’s Cold War legacy.  Our VISION is to be the user site of choice for large-scale, high-hazard, national security experimentation, with premier facilities and capabilities below ground, on the ground, and in the air. (See NNSS.gov for our unique capabilities.) Our 2,750+ professional, craft, and support employees are called upon to innovate, collaborate, and deliver on some of the more difficult nuclear security challenges facing the world today.   

• MSTS offers our full-time employees highly competitive salaries and benefits packages including medical, dental, and vision; both a pension and a 401k; paid time off and 96 hours of paid holidays; relocation (if located more than 75 miles from work location); tuition assistance and reimbursement; and more.  
• MSTS is a limited liability company consisting of Honeywell International Inc. (Honeywell), Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Jacobs), and HII Nuclear Inc.

• Minimum Education and Experience
  • Bachelor’s degree in an engineering program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) required for Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering degrees
  • Or, Calculus-based STEM bachelor’s degree in engineering
  • Or, for Architects, Certification from the National Council or Architectural Registration Board (NCARB)
  • Or Professional Engineer license
• Plus at least 9 years’ relevant experience. Skill building experience must demonstrate either deeper technical specialization or additional cross-disciplinary knowledge; graduate research experience may be recognized.
• PE license or other certification, preferred. 
• Membership in discipline organizations (ACI, AISC, ASME, etc.) may be required, depending on job
  requirements.
• Must be willing and able to travel as required by the job.
• The primary work location will be at the Los Alamos Operations located in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• Work schedule for this position will be 4/10s, Monday through Thursday (subject to change).
• Pre-placement physical examination, which includes a drug screen, is required. MSTS maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing.
• Must possess a valid driver’s license.

MSTS is required by DOE directive 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 offered employment with MSTS are also 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. In addition, Applicants for employment must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship, at least 18 years of age. Reference DOE Order 472.2, “Personnel Security”. 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.

Department of Energy Q Clearance (position will be cleared to this level). Reviews and tests for the absence of any illegal drug as defined in 10 CFR Part 707.4, “Workplace Substance Abuse Programs at DOE Sites,” will be conducted.  Applicant selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation, required to participate in subsequent reinvestigations, and must meet the eligibility requirements for access to classified matter. Successful completion of a counterintelligence evaluation, which may include a counterintelligence-scope polygraph examination, may also be required. Reference 10 CFR Part 709, “Counterintelligence Evaluation Program.”

MSTS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. MSTS is a background screening, drug-free workplace.

Annual salary range for this position is: $119,246.40 - $181,854.40.

Starting salary is determined based on the position market value, the individual candidate education and experience and internal equity. 

The Stockpile Experimentation and Operations, Technology and Operations (SEO T&O) Directorate is seeking a highly motivated individual with a strong work ethic and willingness to learn to join the Radiography and Imaging Systems Team within the Dynamic Instruments Section of SEO T&O. Dynamic Instruments is comprised of approximately 35 scientists, engineers, and technicians, and is the core for innovative diagnostic design, simulation, fabrication, characterization, and fielding in support of the NNSS’ stockpile stewardship mission. 

The Radiography and Imaging Systems Team is specifically responsible for providing novel optical designs based on scientific requirements, making improvements/adjustments to current optical designs, diagnostic development for both visible and radiographic imaging, developing and characterizing all parts of the imaging chain, and participating in fielding efforts for stockpile stewardship experiments and other applications across the NNSA complex.

We are seeking to hire an established principal engineer who would strengthen NNSS leadership in all aspects of optical design and optical engineering in our Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS) Los Alamos Office, located in Los Alamos, NM. 

The successful applicant will work as part of a small team designing, assembling, testing and characterizing, and providing fielding support on complex optical diagnostic systems for a wide variety of scientific experiments conducted at locations within the NNSS complex and national laboratory facilities. The successful candidate will employ broad knowledge and expertise in areas of optical design, optical testing and alignment, optical layout, optical metrology, stray light evaluation, detailed tolerance analysis, Monte Carlo analysis, hands on optical laboratory expertise, and a systems level approach to design projects. They will support diagnostic development capabilities in areas as diverse as high-speed imaging, high power laser relay systems, optical velocimetry, holography, and spectroscopy.

The successful applicant will work in close collaboration with scientists, engineers, and technicians across disciplines, organizations, and geographic locations to develop innovative solutions to customer needs; they will be expected to work well in a dynamic and interdisciplinary team framework. This individual will work to translate science and physics needs into engineering requirements, create optical diagnostic systems to meet these requirements, test-built systems to ensure the diagnostic requirements are met, and field the completed diagnostic systems. 

Key Responsibilities

• Devises integrated solutions to the most complex technical problems of broad scope.
• Serves as Technical Lead for major projects and startups. Initiates collaboration with partners external to the NNSS. Leads collaboration to achieve mission execution.
• Develops new initiatives for additional scopes of work.
• Serves as an advisor to other personnel and management on difficult and critical technical issues.
• Provides guidance to project management regarding strategic development opportunities using NNSS technologies and capabilities.
• Encourages development of intellectual property and publishing in established journals.
• Mentors scientist and engineering staff and technical management in methods, processes, and best practices.
• Participates in business development by defining customer needs, developing proposals, and planning projects that will produce results meeting customer needs.
• Works with customer personnel to ensure their needs are clearly defined and works with others to meet customer objectives.
• Applies knowledge and ingenuity to implement cutting edge, pioneering solutions in the technical arena, often in unexplored areas of investigation and research.
• May be called upon to represent company position to outside organizations and customers.