Principal Associate Director (PAD) for National Ignition Facility & Photon Science (NIF&PS)

Company Description

Join us and make YOUR mark on the World!

Are you interested in joining some of the brightest talent in the world to strengthen the United States’ security? Come join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where our employees apply their expertise to create solutions for BIG ideas that make our world a better place.

We are committed to a diverse and equitable workforce with an inclusive culture that values and celebrates the diversity of our people, talents, ideas, experiences, and perspectives. This is important for continued success of the Laboratory’s mission.

Pay Range

$492,030 - $631,836

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting; pay will not be below any applicable local minimum wage.  An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

Job Description

We have an opening for the Principal Associate Director (PAD) for the National Ignition Facility & Photon Science (NIF&PS). In this key leadership position you are a member of the Laboratory’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and are responsible for sustaining and enhancing the broad range of NIF&PS technical capabilities and infrastructure to support the current and long-range missions of the Laboratory. You will develop and articulate the strategy for the Principal Directorate consistent with the overall Laboratory strategic vision and the NIF&PS PAD will develop and maintain close partnerships and collaborations with other national laboratories, academia, and industry as well as a range of government agencies including DOE/NNSA and DoD. The NIF&PS PAD is a leader in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF), high energy density (HED) science, and laser science communities. The PAD for NIF&PS has the prime responsibility for operating the NIF safely and securely for its multiple mission customers.

LLNL is one of the nation's premier national laboratories applying leading edge science and technology (S&T) to a broad range of national missions with a core responsibility to ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. LLNL is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration.

The Laboratory's mission is to perform leading edge scientific research and develop technological innovations to ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile; support chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) threat reduction; improve national and international security; strengthen energy and environmental security; assure U.S. leadership in strategic areas of S&T; and enhance the economic competitiveness of the nation. This mission is enabled by the Laboratory's outstanding scientific and engineering capabilities. Today LLNL has a multidisciplinary workforce of approximately 9000 and an annual budget in excess of $3 billion.

The PAD/NIF&PS serves as a member of the Laboratory's SLT and reports directly to the Laboratory Director.

In this role you will:

• Develop and implement strategies for the sustainment and advancement of the NIF and its capabilities, ensuring the successful execution of the experimental program in support of the facility’s users.
• Provide the leadership to strategically position LLNL as the leader in Advanced Laser Science and Technology and Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). 
• Partner with the Strategic Deterrence (SD) PAD and Physics and Life Sciences (PLS) PAD to establish LLNL leadership in ICF and High Energy Density (HED) science in support of Stockpile Stewardship.
• Oversee the development of advanced laser systems, related optical and target systems, control systems and system engineering capability for research and other mission applications.
• Develop and maintain close partnerships with DOE/NNSA, DoD, and other agencies, academia, and industry.
• Develop and maintain existing and prospective international collaborations in laser science and technology and ICF.
• Execute the NIF Facility Use Plan, including optimizing the facility diagnostics, lasers, targets, optics, and other technologies and systems for users needs consistent with available resources and priorities, and ensuring that all NIF activities are conducted in a safe, secure manner consistent with good stewardship of NIF and its supporting infrastru