Senior/ Principal Electrical Engineer, Navigation - 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:

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• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

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*These benefits vary by job classification.

Organization 05449, Autonomy for Hypersonics, is actively seeking a Navigation Engineer who has significant interest in estimation, sensing, and applied R&D for national security missions to join our team!

The successful candidate will have R&D experience in sensing, hardware, and/or filtering for dynamic systems, the desire to team and grow in technical leadership, and formal training in either
Electrical/Aerospace Engineering or a related engineering field, such as Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or Mechanical Engineering. Autonomy for Hypersonics supports a large range of Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) to apply innovative conceptual ideas to both near-term and future warfighter needs.

On any given day, one may be called upon to:

• Develop and analyze novel estimation/sensor fusion approaches and algorithms for complex national security mission spaces
• Collaborate with a team of researchers, engineers, and technologists to develop innovative, integrated navigation technologies and to mature them from concept to simulation to flight tests
• Mature low-TRL technologies toward successful launch vehicle demonstrations (i.e., flight tests)
• Design and implement GNSS signal processing and RF chains
• Implement real-time flight software implementations of GNSS receiver solutions

This position will include simulation, laboratory, and field-testing operations. Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite at Sandia's laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, including the Flight Dynamics Laboratory. Some travel is required for this position.

$114,000 - $227,500

*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 Electrical Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Ability to work independently and collaborate well in a multidisciplinary team of designers and test engineers.
• Outstanding verbal and written skills, including the ability to develop and present briefings that are clear and compelling.

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

• Coursework and/or 1+ years experience with modern navigation systems (e.g., GNSS architectures/receivers, sensor fusion, inertial measurement systems, Kalman filtering, alternative global navigation solutions, and sensor integrity)
• Experience programming in object-oriented and scripting tools/languages (e.g. Python, CIC++, Matlab)
• Experience in technical communication as demonstrated by technical presentations and/or technical publications
• Technical leadership experience, including project execution and mentorship
• Experience working collaboratively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team
• The demonstrated ability to conduct guided research and development in a self-directed fashion
• Coursework and/or experience with aerospace flight system or subsystem modeling and simulation
• Coursework and/or experience with autonomous system path planning/guidance/control, especially for flight systems
• Experience with hardware/applying real-time software on embedded processors involving dynamical system applications
• An active DOE Q-level security clearance; or other equivalent active security clearance such as DOD Top Secret
• An active SCI-level Clearance; or a willingness to apply for an SCI-level clearance

Department 05449, Autonomy for Hypersonics, manages an innovative research portfolio in autonomous systems development and flight demonstrations of technology advancements. The department supports the research and development of software, autonomy algorithms, prototype hardware, target recognition, and navigation/guidance/control. We actively partner with domain experts both at the Labs and throughout the nation to implement high-impact research to meet national defense needs.

A4H is pursuing research and development in autonomous systems to enhance the capabilities of the nation's hypersonic vehicles as well as other high-consequence systems. A4H enables increasingly agile hypersonic weapons that adapt to unexpected scenarios, empowering the U.S. to respond to threats anywhere in the world without putting our warfighters at unnecessary risk. The challenging flight environment and limited available flight data make hypersonics one of the most complex applications for autonomy. Sandia and its partners are developing algorithms, sensors, and compact computing hardware that compress complex data processing and analysis methods into real-time decisioning tools. The goal of A4H is unprecedented flexibility in response to newly designated targets, evolving target conditions, difficult operating environments, and unexpected flight conditions.

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.

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