Senior/ Principal Aerospace Engineer, Flight Mechanics - Onsite

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.

Sandia National Laboratories Flight Mechanics Department is seeking highly qualified and passionate aerospace engineers to explore and develop new and existing flight system concepts. In this exciting position, you will be asked to apply your knowledge and experience in aerodynamic models, flight mechanics, trajectory simulation, and flight system design to enable advanced concepts to be demonstrated in the national interest.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Work as a member of driven, passionate, multi-disciplinary teams
• Communicate directly with internal and external customers
• Support the design, development, and flight testing of advanced aerospace flight systems, including hypersonic flight vehicles, reentry bodies, and rocket systems
• Develop aerodynamic models used during all phases of flight vehicle design from early concept development through high fidelity flight demonstration
• Perform trajectory design and mission planning
• Create and optimize 3DOF/6DOF trajectory simulations of complex multi-body flight systems for performance analysis and mission requirement verification/ development
• Contribute to development and application of Sandias 3DOF/6DOF trajectory simulation tool TAOS
• Create system models and apply multi-disciplinary design and optimization methods/ tools for conceptual design trade space analysis
• Conduct flight safety analysis and support flight test operations at launch sites and remote ranges

Some travel is required for this position. Due to the nature of the role, this candidate must be able to work onsite.

$117,500 - $235,700

*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.

• 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.
• The ability to acquire and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance

The ideal Aerospace Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Experience in applied aerodynamics, flight mechanics, or trajectory simulation with application to the design, modeling, simulation, optimization, and analysis of aerospace flight systems.
• Experience with the capabilities, use, and application of MATLAB, Simulink, Python, C/C++, or other modern programming languages and repositories in technical analysis/computing and software development.
• Proven ability to work and communicate effectively in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced/schedule driven environment.

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

• Experience in developing and deploying multi-fidelity aerodynamic and flight performance models in multi-disciplinary design, optimization, and 3DOF/6DOF trajectory simulation environments
• Experience with aerodynamic prediction codes, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and wind tunnel testing
• Experience in high performance computing, command line computing, and Linux operating system
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication/ presentation skills
• The ability to collaborate and contribute as a member of a multi-disciplinary team.
• The ability to moderately travel for project meetings and tests
• Active DOE Q or L clearance or DoD Secret or Top Secret clearance

At Sandia National Laboratories, you will be part of a passionate team with access to innovative facilities and renowned experts in nearly every field of science and engineering. The mission of the laboratories is to provide exceptional service in the national interest.

The Flight Mechanics Department provides expertise and technical leadership in the areas of:

• Flight mechanics & multi-body dynamics
• Trajectory design & simulation
• Flight performance analysis & advanced mission concept exploration
• Flight vehicle system design of hypersonic flight systems including rockets, reentry bodies, and boost-glide systems
• Flight test & flight safety analysis
• Test range operations support
• Software development and use of trajectory simulation, analysis, and flight safety codes

These fields are applied to a wide range of flight systems operating from subsonic through hypersonic flight regimes. The Flight Mechanics Department actively explores and develops advanced flight system concepts leading to next-generation design, development, and flight test demonstration of pathfinder hypersonic technologies, launch vehicles, and reentry flight systems.

Staff members are integral flight test project team members; active in all aspects of vehicle design, mission planning, flight test execution, and post-test analysis. We routinely support rocket launch and flight test operations at Sandias Kauai Test Facility and other national test ranges. We provide technical excellence in aerospace design and concept application for U.S. Department of Energy programs and flight system projects funded through the U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency, DARPA, NASA, and industry partners.

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.

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.

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.

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.