Senior/Principal Material Scientist – Advanced Metal Manufacturing, 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.

At the forefront of manufacturing innovation, the Advanced Metals Processing team drives transformative solutions to complex materials challenges that support Sandia’s national security mission. As part of Sandia’s advanced metal manufacturing initiatives, we develop next-generation manufacturing processes that redefine the state-of-the-art in metal fabrication.

We are seeking a forward-thinking R&D Material Scientist with expertise in metal additive manufacturing and lattice design for advanced metallic components to join our dynamic team. In this role, you will lead process development and component qualification efforts using advanced technologies such as laser powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, and wire arc additive manufacturing. In collaboration with a world-class team of subject matter experts from across Sandia and our partners, you will contribute to a diverse portfolio of R&D projects spanning fundamental and applied research. Your engineering insights and technical leadership will help shape the future of metal AM within the Nuclear Security Enterprise.

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

• Drive materials selection and develop manufacturing processes for advanced metallic hardware.
• Design and execute test plans to evaluate mechanical and physical properties of metal alloys.
• Partner with interdisciplinary teams to design, optimize, and execute experiments for process development.
• Lead customer engagement and pursue funding opportunities to advance team capabilities.
• Present research findings at technical conferences and communicate results to diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide expert guidance on equipment, capabilities, and emerging technologies.
• Manage the safe and efficient operation of our metal additive manufacturing lab, ensuring all equipment meets operational and safety standards.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite 100% of the time.

$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.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance

The ideal Metal Advanced Manufacturing Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• PhD in materials science, metallurgical engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related STEM field, including completion of an independent research project (e.g., dissertation or equivalent doctoral research project).
• Experience performing R&D projects independently and working on multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to convey complex technical results to customers with a variety of backgrounds.
• Verbal and written communication skills evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, or similar.
• Experience using CAD and computational design tools such as nTop, Siemens NX, Autodesk Netfabb, Materialise Magics, Creo, SolidWorks, or similar platforms for lattice design in metal additive manufacturing, including periodic and graded structures for lightweighting, thermal management, and mechanical performance.

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

• Hands-on experience with metal additive manufacturing processes, equipment, and associated software tools.
• Expertise in mechanical behavior of AM metals, failure analysis, or fractography.
• Proven experience in AM part and process qualification.
• Proficiency with statistical process control (SPC) methods.
• Understanding of post-process surface finishing and heat treatment techniques for AM parts
• Working knowledge of post-processing equipment for AM parts (e.g., wire EDM, surface grinders, metrology tools).
• Familiarity with GCode, CNC machining, and tool path generation.
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, with a passion for driving innovation in advanced technologies.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of clearly conveying complex technical concepts to both expert and non-expert audiences verbally or in writing
• Record of technical excellence demonstrated by publications and conference presentations
• Experience mentoring and developing team members to foster success.
• Commitment to quality, safety, teamwork, and collaborative problem-solving.

Sandia National Laboratories Organization 1812 encompasses both the Advanced Metal Processing Department and the Rapid Development Machine Shop. The Rapid Development Machine Shop specializes in advanced machining techniques, offering engineering expertise as well as agile prototyping and small-lot production capabilities. The Advanced Metal Processing Department focuses on cutting-edge R&D in metal additive manufacturing, laser machining, and laser surface modification. Our metal additive manufacturing capabilities include alloy development, qualification and acceptance, geometric design and optimization, as well as process innovation. Current additive manufacturing platforms employ laser powder bed fusion, laser-powder directed energy deposition (DED), and wire-arc DED to produce components from a wide range of conventional and specialty alloys. Our staff is engaged in providing collaborative, innovative materials science and systems-based engineering solutions to support the Sandia mission.

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.

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.