Target Experimental Systems Engineering and Operations Manager

Job Description

Do you want to lead a large multidisciplinary organization responsible for some of the world’s most complex, high performance laser systems while enabling groundbreaking national security science? The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser, is seeking a dynamic Target Experimental Systems (TEXS) Engineering and Operations Manager to lead the TEXS Engineering Section in support of safe, reliable operations, strong system performance, critical maintenance, and future capability enhancements.

This role offers a unique opportunity to apply your leadership, engineering judgment, and strategic vision at one of the world’s most advanced scientific facilities. You will oversee a large organization of engineers, technicians, and technical leaders responsible for the installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, performance monitoring, configuration management, and operations of target systems, diagnostics, final optics, and associated experimental equipment supporting NIF. This includes both engineering sustainment and round-the-clock operational readiness in an unprecedented radiological environment as NIF continues to increase the yield and number of fusion ignition shots.

As the TEXS Section Manager, you will lead a multidisciplinary technical team responsible for the safe operations, optimized system performance, and reliable, high-availability execution, while driving upgrades and engineering improvements needed to meet future mission requirements and increasing shot rate demands. You will provide direct leadership in organizational development, workforce planning, technical direction, resource management, and strategic planning to sustain and enhance operational excellence across a broad portfolio of complex experimental systems. Reporting to the NIF Director, you will establish section objectives and priorities in alignment with NIF mission requirements and direction from NIF senior leadership. Operating under broad organizational direction, you will exercise independent judgment in establishing section objectives, setting priorities, allocating resources, and resolving complex engineering and operational challenges. You will partner with experimenters, operating programs, engineering organizations, target fabrication, and other supporting organizations to ensure that experimental parameters, system configurations, schedules, and capabilities support current and future NIF mission requirements. You will also coordinate with diagnostic engineering teams to maintain existing systems and implement new diagnostic capabilities in support of present and future experiments. This position is in the Laser Systems Engineering & Operations (LSEO) Division within the Engineering Directorate.

This position requires full-time on-site presence due to the nature of the work.

In this role, you will

• Establish section priorities, work plans, long-term objectives, and resource allocation in alignment with direction from the NIF Director and NIF senior leadership to ensure the safe operation, availability, performance, and readiness of target systems, diagnostics, final optics, and associated experimental equipment supporting the NIF experimental schedule and future mission requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and management of a large multidisciplinary organization of approximately 90 engineers, technicians, and technical leaders responsible for Installation, maintenance, configuration management, troubleshooting, operations, upgrades, and readiness of complex mission-critical systems.
• Manage multiple technically and scientifically challenging operational and engineering efforts with competing priorities, working to improve safety, experimental performance, reliability, shot availability, user satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and efficient around-the-clock operational readiness in support of NIF shot execution.
• Manage personnel performance, workforce planning, career development, and succession planning, in partnership with discipline organizations, to sustain organizational capability and support long-term mission success.
• Lead conduct of operations, work control, and safety culture within the section, including radiological work planning and implementation of ALARA practices.
• Direct maintenance, reliability and lifecycle sustainment strategies for assigned complex systems, including risk reduction, obsolescence management, recovery planning, and continuous improvement of equipment, processes, and operational practices to sustain high-availability execution and enable future capability enhancements.
• Collaborate and partner closely with experimenters, operating programs, engineering organizations, target fabrication, and other NIF sections to align system-level requirements, operational plans, troubleshooting efforts, experimental parameters, and new capability upgrades with overall mission objectives.
• Interact and coordinate with, report and make recommendations to, influence, and negotiate with senior management and internal and external customers and sponsors regarding the progress, readiness, performance, and future needs of systems supporting NIF operations and mission execution.
• Oversee, analyze, and evaluate technical and operational progress of projects and work activities within the section and across organizational interfaces to ensure goals, objectives, schedules, and performance expectations are met.
• Exercise independent judgment in resolving complex engineering and operational issues while balancing technical, schedule, staffing, and budget considerations to meet mission requirements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q level security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.
• Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or another related technical field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Expert knowledge of and extensive experience with leadership, management, and organizational development principles to lead and achieve unit objectives and meet Laboratory, Department of Energy (DOE), and customer/sponsor requirements.
• Extensive experience effectively planning and directing work and strategies involving technical objectives, estimating effort, setting milestones, and managing within a designated budget.
• Expert technical knowledge and extensive operational experience with high-energy-density experimental systems, diagnostics, target systems, final optics, detectors, controls, radiological operations, or similarly complex engineered systems in a high-consequence environment.
• Extensive experience in complex work control, safety systems, risk assessment, maintenance strategy, and quality assurance.
• Extensive experience effectively establishing organizational priorities, interpreting operational objectives, and exercising judgment in the use of resources to meet mission requirements.
• Demonstrated ability and extensive experience successfully resolving a diverse and complex range of project execution challenges.
• Expert communication, facilitation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills necessary to effectively present and explain information, direct an organization, build cooperative multi-disciplinary teams, and interact with and advise management and customers/sponsors on a wide variety of management level technical and complex issues.

Qualifications We Desire

• Master’s degree in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or related technical field.
• Experience with High Energy Density diagnostics and associated measurements, as well as Inertial Confinement Fusion experiments, target systems, final optics, detectors, controls, or experimental platforms.

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