Senior/Principal R&D Mechanical Engineer - Aerodynamic Technology & Energy Systems, Hybrid

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.

We are seeking a R&D Mechanical Engineer to work with a multi-disciplinary team to develop and apply high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations of turbulent atmospheric and hydrodynamic flow interactions with airfoil structures and hydrodynamic simulations for novel tidal turbine technologies. The successful candidate will also work to improve understanding of how turbulence can impact efficiencies and surface erosion of energy generating equipment and trajectories of defense-related technologies. The capabilities will be developed within the framework of an object-oriented, massively parallel, computational mechanics code.

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

• Work with a dynamic team of researchers, numerical methods developers, math model developers, and aero-structural energy analysts working to solve challenging multi-physics problems;
• Be assigned computational model and algorithmic development and implementation tasks, as well as tasks related to verification and validation of the simulation capability.
• Apply turbulence modeling capabilities to a variety of energy and national security research areas.

The selected applicant can work a combination of onsite and offsite work. The selected applicant must live within a reasonable distance for commuting to the assigned work location when necessary.

$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 DOE L-level security
  

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

• Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Experience with mechanical engineering and product realization in the NNSA complex.
• 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:

• Ph.D. in engineering, physics, applied mathematics or other relevant field
• Experience in incompressible flow CFD methods, mesh generation and turbulence modeling approaches (RANS, LES, DES, Hybrid RANS-LES etc.)
• Experience with fluid-dynamics modeling software, including OpenFAST, and the ExaWind code stack.
• Experience in modeling aero and hydro turbine dynamics aerodynamics, atmospheric flows and fluid-structure interactions
• Experience with parallel programming (Shared and Distributed memory, GPU programming etc.)
• Demonstrated experience with distributed memory MPI programming
• Excellent C++ programming experience
• Experience with collaborative software design, development, and testing processes
• Application of statistical methods, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and data analytics, to rich experimental or computational data sources
  

The Aerodynamic Technology & Energy Systems department performs research and development in support of understanding airflow over surfaces, and applications that include innovative energy generating technologies. This comprises of developing both new, and improving existing components and systems that harness energy inherent in atmospheric and hydrodynamic earth systems. This department also had deep capabilities in aero-structural impacts that arise from operating these technologies, which include high accuracy instrumentation required for model validation, modeling and simulation of aero and hydro systems models, Machine Learning and AI for enhanced data analytics, composite material structural properties, advanced manufacturing of aero and hydro rotor technology, novel defense applications for remote power generation, and energy system grid integration.

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 L-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 the 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.