Science Lead for the Modeling and Systems Analysis Center of Excellence (Scientist 4)
- Req. Number: IRC140723
- Organization : A-1/Information Systems and Modeling Group
- City, State: Los Alamos, New Mexico
- Salary: $150,300 - $260,800
What You Will Do
The Information Systems and Modeling Group (A-1) conducts applied complex systems modeling to support decision makers responsible for preparing for and responding to key national security threats. A-1's competencies are vast and include critical infrastructure resilience analysis, chemical and biological weapon plume dispersion modeling, applied quantum computing, pandemic modeling and response, wildfire modeling, and more.
LANL is standing up a Center of Excellence for Modeling and Simulation, which will serve as a mission-focused entity supporting LANL's strategic assessments and systems analysis of joint interest to the Laboratory's leadership and that of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Defense (DoD). The Center will bring together code development, verification and validation, data management, AI applications, and hardware recommendations to support our mission needs. As the science lead for the Center, you will lead a dynamic team of scientists and engineers who support NNSA and DoD partners in critical strategic planning roles. Your focus will be to deliver, sometimes on short timelines, a wide breadth of decision support tools to meet specific needs of DoD strategic leaders. For example, you may identify and develop crucial LANL mission-relevant capabilities needed in AFSIM, you might implement a novel AI LLM approach to exploring possible conflict situations, or you might develop critical infrastructure resilience models. This highly collaborative role requires thoughtful, thorough, and timely communication with the team and both internal and external partners and sponsors.
The Candidate will spend significant time interfacing key LANL and DoD stakeholders to lead the identification, design, and implementation of crucial strategic planning tools. This Candidate is expected to have extensive DoD-relevant strategic planning expertise, deep modeling/simulation knowledge and understanding, as well as extensive experience leading software development teams. Some mentoring will be provided, where necessary, to ensure that the Candidate has the required specific mission background and contextual information, internal and external network, and technical understanding. The Candidate is expected to mentor a team comprised of staff, postdocs, and students.
What You Need
Minimum Job Requirements:
Education/Experience: Position requires a Master's degree in a STEM field from an accredited college or university and 12 years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.
Desired Qualifications:
Work Environment:
Work Location: The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.
Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year or 2 years.
Note to Applicants:
Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.Where You Will Work
Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:
Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.
Clearance: Q (Position will be cleared to this level). Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance. and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad.
*Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.
New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.
Regular position: Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular-status positions are converted to regular status.
Internal Applicants: Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.
Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to applyhelp@lanl.gov or call 1-505-664-6947 option 3.
The Information Systems and Modeling Group (A-1) conducts applied complex systems modeling to support decision makers responsible for preparing for and responding to key national security threats. A-1's competencies are vast and include critical infrastructure resilience analysis, chemical and biological weapon plume dispersion modeling, applied quantum computing, pandemic modeling and response, wildfire modeling, and more.
LANL is standing up a Center of Excellence for Modeling and Simulation, which will serve as a mission-focused entity supporting LANL's strategic assessments and systems analysis of joint interest to the Laboratory's leadership and that of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Defense (DoD). The Center will bring together code development, verification and validation, data management, AI applications, and hardware recommendations to support our mission needs. As the science lead for the Center, you will lead a dynamic team of scientists and engineers who support NNSA and DoD partners in critical strategic planning roles. Your focus will be to deliver, sometimes on short timelines, a wide breadth of decision support tools to meet specific needs of DoD strategic leaders. For example, you may identify and develop crucial LANL mission-relevant capabilities needed in AFSIM, you might implement a novel AI LLM approach to exploring possible conflict situations, or you might develop critical infrastructure resilience models. This highly collaborative role requires thoughtful, thorough, and timely communication with the team and both internal and external partners and sponsors.
The Candidate will spend significant time interfacing key LANL and DoD stakeholders to lead the identification, design, and implementation of crucial strategic planning tools. This Candidate is expected to have extensive DoD-relevant strategic planning expertise, deep modeling/simulation knowledge and understanding, as well as extensive experience leading software development teams. Some mentoring will be provided, where necessary, to ensure that the Candidate has the required specific mission background and contextual information, internal and external network, and technical understanding. The Candidate is expected to mentor a team comprised of staff, postdocs, and students.
What You Need
Minimum Job Requirements:
- Proficiency with Python and common third-party modules for data science, optimization, modeling, and simulation
- Proficiency developing software that integrates with various services and tools through APIs (including some that may not be well documented)
- Extensive experience designing and implementing models and simulations for complex real-world phenomena
- Extensive experience documenting software for use by non-experts
- Extensive experience collecting, organizing, and using real-world data from a variety of sources in models and simulations
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Extensive experience leading medium- to large-sized teams centered on deliverable-focused software development projects using modern industry best practices (e.g., using common software development tools and techniques like GitLab, CI/CD, and unit/integration testing)
- Extensive experience and working knowledge of the DoD
- Extensive experience and success leading grant proposals for a variety of sponsors
- Extensive experience mentoring staff, postdocs, and students
- Ability and desire to obtain Q and SCI clearances, which requires U.S. citizenship
Education/Experience: Position requires a Master's degree in a STEM field from an accredited college or university and 12 years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.
Desired Qualifications:
- Familiarity with standard modeling and simulation tools employed by the NNSA and DoD
- Knowledge of AFSIM and experience developing AFSIM modules
- Current Q and SCI clearances
- Experience developing software at multiple classification levels
Work Environment:
Work Location: The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.
Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year or 2 years.
Note to Applicants:
Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.Where You Will Work
Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:
- PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
- Dental and vision insurance
- Free basic life and disability insurance
- Paid childbirth and parental leave
- Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
- Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
- Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
- Onsite gyms and wellness programs
- Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)
Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.
Clearance: Q (Position will be cleared to this level). Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance. and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad.
*Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.
New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.
Regular position: Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular-status positions are converted to regular status.
Internal Applicants: Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.
Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to applyhelp@lanl.gov or call 1-505-664-6947 option 3.
