Job Title

Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments (ECSE) Scientist

Job Description

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. 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.

Responsibilities

The Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments (ECSE) program is seeking outstanding scientists at various career stages (Senior Scientist, Principal Scientist, and Senior Principal Scientist) to work with the ESCE team to support installation, commissioning, and technical maturation the world's newest and most advanced linear induction accelerator, Scorpius at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).

Scientists will contribute to ECSE program advancing high-current pulsed accelerator, beam transport, and x-ray source performance. Responsibilities span experimental activities (e.g. diagnostics developments), modeling and simulations, data analysis, and cross-disciplinary collaboration with pulsed power, target, controls, and operation teams in high-consequence DOE environment.

Successful candidates will work within a collaboration between the Nevada National Security Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory to prepare the accelerator for state-of-the-art experiments and to solve challenging problems that will improve accelerator performance and understanding of the physics behind.

Key Responsibilities

• Devises imaginative, thorough, and practical solutions requiring evaluation of standards and processes. Solutions may be unique.
• Design, execute and analyze accelerator/beam experiments.
• Develop, commission, and operate beam and x-ray diagnostics.
• Build, validate, and apply physics models and Multiphysics simulations; compare to experimental data and iterate designs.
• Apply targeted Machine Learning to speed up tuning, improve diagnostics insights, and support experiments planning; build data workflows and integrate with controls where appropriate, validate models against measurements.
• Author test plans, procedures, and technical reports; present results to program leadership and external partners.
• Work safety with high voltage, radiation, vacuum/pressure systems; follow Work Planning & Control and configuration management.
• Collaborate across controls (timing/EPICS), solid state pulse power, alignments, targets, and operations.

Role Expectations

Senior Scientist (Role Expectations):

• Lead major ECSE workstreams; define technical roadmaps; serve on design and test readiness reviews; mentor team.
• Lead a small Machine Learning deployment tied to an experiment; establish validation/rollback.
• Maintain a rigorous safety culture; own hazard analysis and control implementation for a campaign; enforce configuration management and readiness checklist.

Principal Scientist (Role Expectations):

• Serve as technical lead for major ECSE capability areas; define requirements, interfaces, and acceptance criteria.
• Plan and lead the future multi-campaign test efforts from IOC to FOC.
• Integrate cross-discipline work (pulsed power, magnets/alignment, controls/EPICS, target/diagnostics) to achieve replicable beam/x-ray performance.
• Set minimal standards for Machine Learning use and oversee one or two high value deployments.
• Maintain a rigorous safety culture; author/approve procedures and hazard analysis; set the safety basis and acceptance criteria for operations, make go/no-go decisions.
• Mentor senior scientists and engineers; build hiring pipelines and guide career development.
• Author publications; produces intellectual property; contributes to strategies, reports and technical proposals.

Senior Principal Scientist (Role Expectations):

• Serve as technical leader/design authority for major ECSE capabilities; set technical vision, requirements flow down, interface control, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead multi-campaign test strategies from IOC to FOC, balancing risks, schedule, and performance.
• Establish and enforce diagnostics/analysis standards across the program.
• Own cross-discipline integration (pulsed power, magnets/alignment, controls/EPICS, target/diagnostics) to achieve replicable beam/x-ray performance.
• Define a focused Machine Learning roadmap (few high-impact use cases) and governance for safe adoption.
• Develop and mentor technical leaders; build recruiting pipelines.
• Define the program's safety strategy – establish leading indicators, conduct audits, and drive continuous improvements across teams.
• Influence external partnership and vendor roadmaps; guide make/buy decisions, and technology maturation plans.
• Steward budget and EVMS at the capability level; anticipate long-lead risks; drive corrective actions.

Qualifications

Senior Scientist: ($101,524.80 to $152,297.60)

• Bachelor's in calculus-based technical (STEM) field plus at least 5 years relevant experience. Skill building experience must demonstrate either deeper technical specialization or additional cross-disciplinary knowledge. Graduate research experience may be recognized.
• Track record leading end-to-end accelerator or plasma or pulsed power campaigns (requirements, designs, safety basis, execution, analysis, publication or report).
• Deep expertise in at least two of: injector physics/diodes & cathodes; transport and stability mitigation (BBU/corkscrew); target/x-ray source design & spot optimization; high-speed diagnostics; pulsed power drivers.

Highly Desired

• PhD (or MS/BS with 7- 10 years) in relevant field.
• Design Authority experience; developed new diagnostics.
• Multiphysics optimization linking EM, thermal, structural and beam dynamics.
• Cost/schedule awareness, vendor/partner technical management.

Principal Scientist: ($121,867.20 to $185,848.00)

• Minimum Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree in a calculus-based (STEM) field, 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.
• Proven PI/Co-PI with delivered mission outcomes; sets technical strategy and risk posture.
• Authority in instability mitigation, injector & transport tuning, or target/diagnostics architecture for ns phenomena.
• Communicates complex tradeoffs to execs/stakeholders; builds collaborations (labs, universities, vendors).

Desired

• PhD and recognized subject matter expert with 12 years (or equivalent impact) in high-current accelerators systems, LIAs, or pulsed-power-driven x-ray or particle sources.
• Prior Design Authority experience on accelerator or pulsed-power systems; developed new diagnostics.
• Track record of closing the loop between models and measurements.
• Publications or patents that influenced operational practices at labs or facilities; committee/review pane service.
• University/lab collaboration building and mentoring senior engineers/scientists.

Senior Principal Scientist: ($147,804.80 to $229,091.20)

• Minimum Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree in calculus-based (STEM) field, plus at least 14 years' relevant experience. Skill building experience must demonstrate either deeper technical specialization or additional cross-disciplinary knowledge. Graduate research experience may be recognized.
• Demonstrated technical authority across three or more domains: injector/cathodes, transport & instability mitigation (BBU/corks