Job Description
THIS POSITION IS SHORT TERM, MAX 1000 HOURS IN A CALENDAR YEAR
North Wind Services, is actively seeking individuals who can contribute to national security within the science, technology, and engineering fields as part of our supplemental labor team at vital federal research and development installations supporting the Department of Energy. NWS has an established history of contributing to the success of their customer's mission. Available employment opportunities may range from administrative and logistical support to advanced technical positions.
Qualified applicants must be a US citizen, at least 18 years of age, and able to meet pre-employment requirements including any required physicals, drug screen, and/or background investigation to satisfy clearance requirements from the Department of Energy. Successful candidates will be employees of NWS, a premier government contractor charged with employing highly-motivated and well-qualified personnel who can advance the missions of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA. Though employed by NWS, the employee will take day-to-day direction from technical personnel employed directly by the research laboratories. Pay, benefits, Human Resource, and Employment Management functions are provided by NWS.
The Nuclear Detection Operations group within the Global Security Principal Directorate's Nuclear Threat Reduction (N) Program has an opening for a Nuclear Detection Operations Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support work on nuclear detection systems, machine learning, and algorithm development with an emphasis on radiation portal monitors and networked detectors. The successful candidate will focus on assisting the improvement and sensitivity of these detection systems to detect and characterize nuclear threat signatures, while also identifying benign radiation sources to avoid false alarms. The successful candidate will assist in the development of radiation detection algorithms that leverage cutting edge technologies in multimodal data fusion, machine learning, sensor networks, and big-data analytics.
The successful candidate will be required to pass various on-site training modules to pursue work assignments.
Essential Duties
- Participate in the development, design, modeling, implementation, evaluation, and analysis of new algorithms for the detection, classification, identification, localization, tracking, and diagnosing of nuclear materials and objects of concern.
- Participate in strategic planning and proposal development of new approaches to address nuclear threats using detection and sensor systems and algorithms.
- Provide historical perspective of the projects and relationships with external partner organizations (such as government agencies, industry, universities, and other national laboratories) to assist in the deployment and testing of the next-generation radiation detection systems and algorithms.
- Collaborate with other scientists and technical personnel to accomplish research goals.
- Review research results, provide advice in interpretation of results, and mentor team members in the ability to audit output results.
- Maintain and ensure timeliness, quality standards for tasks and deliverables.
- Maintain required security in classified environments.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Marginal Duties
- Assist and mentor PI's in determining project scope and schedule and support a team of multidisciplinary personnel who conduct analysis and execute the projects.
- Assist in crafting proposal and development plans to meet objectives in the nuclear threat detection.
Essential Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- Current U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship, required on start.
- Ph.D. degree in Physics, Nuclear Engineering, or related fields, or the equivalent combination of education and prior relevant experience.
- Significant experience and knowledge in developing analyses for fusing radiation data with non-radiation modalities.
- Ability to devise solutions for unique and complex problems in situations that may not be well defined.
- Ability to mentor junior team members.
- Documented publication record in peer-reviewed literature with experience presenting research results to a large audience and proficient verbal and written communications skills necessary to review technical and scientific reports and publications.
- Demonstrated experience with Nuclear Detection Systems and LLNL project lifecycles.
Desired Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams of scientists and technical personnel.
- Experience with Monte Carlo and/or deterministic radiation transport codes (e.g. MCNP, GEANT etc.).
- Experience in principles of object-oriented programming and software development best practices and experience with software development tools and concepts such as version control, design-patterns, and continuous integration.
- Understands challenges and current radiation detection research and development needs in the US nuclear enterprise.
- Experience supporting teams to accomplish complex goals, and in assessing project risk and developing controls for managing project risk.
- Experience leveraging existing work, internal resources, and partnerships that resulted in successfully developing new project portfolios.
- Experience working at or with NNSA, the Department of Homeland Security, or other U.S. Government agencies involved in research and development of nuclear/radiological security initiatives.
Special Requirements
Pre-Placement Medical Exam: A job related pre-placement medical examination may be required.
Pre-employment drug test: External applicant(s) selected for this position will be required to pass a post offer, pre-employment drug test.
Anticipated Clearance Level: Q (position will be cleared to this level). Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. In addition, all L or Q cleared employees are subject to random drug testing. Q-level clearance requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold multiple citizenships (U.S. and another country), you may be required to renounce your non-U.S. citizenship before a DOE L or Q clearance will be processed/granted.
North Wind offers a competitive pay and benefits package to include health, life, and disability insurance benefits, 401(k) with company match, generous paid leave, and tuition reimbursement for eligible employees. As a company, we are committed to employee wellness, professional development, and work-life balance. We value safety, reliability, and commitment to our people! For more information about our benefits or hiring philosophy, visit the North Wind Career Opportunities Page.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The nature of those accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability or unable to access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact our Helpline 1-208-528-8714 for assistance.
North Wind is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic data, religion, or other legally protected status. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability.