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What You Will Do

The C-AAC (Actinide Analytical Chemistry) Group within Chemistry Division has a position available for a Scientist. You will work with a multi-disciplinary team at the LANL Plutonium Facility to help implement and expand characterization capabilities for plutonium and other actinide materials. In addition, you will also have opportunities to help lead and support R&D activities in developing solutions for complex problems and support plutonium processing. Processes at the LANL Plutonium Facility are performed using detailed operating procedures and work requires extensive knowledge and expertise following Conduct of Operations, nuclear criticality safety, material control and accountability, radiological safety and environmental compliance requirements. The selected candidate will need to be able to apply the scientific method to address technical problems, develop novel analytical techniques, and analyze data and outcomes from experiments, in the context of the underlying scientific principles and models.

Responsibilities include the following:

• Works unsupervised on individual projects and/or contributes to larger team efforts. Makes scientific judgements that affect the project direction, but often seeks feedback or receives review. May contribute to objectives and milestones of multiple projects.
• Mentors junior staff and peers in technical and professional growth. May mentor students and/or postdocs.
• Contributes to medium to large scale proposals. May write small scale proposal for internal and/or external funding. May acquire funding support for self and for others.
• Develops new methods, techniques or approaches to address critical technical problems.

What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements

Project Development: Demonstrated knowledge and experience in designing, planning, and executing research and development projects. Familiarity with development of new methods, techniques, or approaches to address critical technical problems. Experience meeting deliverables on schedule.

Mentorship: Demonstrated ability to share technical knowledge with colleagues and provide technical direction in a collaborative environment.

Communication: Demonstrated effective oral and written communication skills as evidenced by authorship on peer-reviewed publications, conference participation, presentations, etc.

Scientific Background: Demonstrated knowledge and scientific achievements in analytical chemistry, actinide chemistry, physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, nuclear engineering, materials science, radiochemistry, or other relevant scientific fields.

Technical Skills: Demonstrated skills in analytical characterization techniques (e.g. UV-Vis, IR, SEM, TEM, NMR, Fluorescence, LIBS, Raman, Mass Spec) and a willingness to learn how to apply these techniques to challenging material types.

Self-Management Skills: Demonstrated ability to organize, prioritize, and complete multiple tasks concurrently. Demonstrated ability to work independently to identify, analyze, develop, and implement creative and innovative solutions in planning and completing projects with conflicting and often changing priorities.

Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to collaborate and interact effectively with a range of personnel.

Clearance: Must have the ability to obtain a Q clearance, which typically requires US citizenship.

Education/Experience: Position requires a Bachelor's degree in a STEM field from an accredited college or university and 5 years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience related to the job. An advanced degree in chemistry or a related field is preferred.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience or specialized training working with radioactive and nuclear materials.
• Experience working in gloveboxes and open front fumehoods.
• Experience with laboratory equipment and instrumentation, including operator experience, assembly, testing, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with a variety of material types and sample preparation techniques.
• Current Q clearance

Essential Job Functions (can perform with or without reasonable accommodation): Ability to discriminate speech, reading, vision, walking, standing, bending, stooping, applying torque with hands and arms, gripping with the hands.

Work Environment: Work near sources of ionizing radiation, near sources of non-ionizing radiation, and toxic chemicals; work with safety glasses or eye protection, face shield or facial protection, mask or respirator, Level B HAZMAT suit/anti-C clothing, gloves or hand protection, safety shoes or protective footgear, hood use.

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: For full consideration, please submit a comprehensive cover letter and either a resume or CV reflective of your relevant experience to the job requirements and desired skills stated above. While the posted salary range for this position is broad, it is highly unusual for selected applicants to be hired at the top end of the range and more common for selected candidates to grown into the full salary band over time.

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 maternity and parental leave
• Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
• Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
• Flexible schedules and time off (PTO)
• Onsite gyms and wellness programs
• Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)

Additional Details

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.

HRP: This position is subject to the requirements of the DOE Human Reliability Program as specified in 10 Code of Federal Regulation, Part 712, 712.11. These requirements include on going drug and alcohol testing, as well as periodic medical and psychological evaluations.

426.2: This position is subject to DOE Order 426.2, Personnel Selection, Training, and Qualification Requirements for DOE Nuclear Facilities, which establishes entry-level requirements to ensure candidates selected for specific positions can successfully perform the requirements of the job.

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 or preference, 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 1-505-665-4444 option 1.