CGSR Post Doctoral Research Fellow - 2025

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 dedicated to fostering a culture that values individuals, talents, partnerships, ideas, experiences, and different perspectives, recognizing their importance to the continued success of the Laboratory’s mission.

Pay Range

$118,068 annually

This position is under a step structure.  Please note that the step is determined by your academic level. Transcripts are required.

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're looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR). CGSR was established at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 1996 to serve as a bridge between the science & technology experts at the lab and the broader national security policy communities. Given LLNL’s mission to support nuclear deterrence, CGSR’s core topics are related to nuclear matters, including strategic deterrence, international stability, arms control, and nonproliferation. The Center also conducts work on other topics related to the changing security environment such as emerging and potentially disruptive technologies, energy issues, and biosecurity. The CGSR fellowship would support one of the five main research thrust areas at the Center:

• Major Power Rivalry and Conflict,
• New Regional Challengers and Challenges,
• Toward Deterrence Strategy 3.0,
• Future of Long-Term Competitive Strategies, and
• Future of Cooperative Strategies to Reduce Global Dangers.

Complete descriptions of the CGSR thrust areas and examples of the Center’s work can be found at https://cgsr.llnl.gov/. 

The Center works to achieve these objectives by 1) convening seminars with outside speakers to better understand national policy priorities and national and international developments bearing on the lab’s missions, 2) providing analysis and expertise to laboratory leadership in support of strategic planning and to national leadership in policy development and implementation, and 3) advancing thinking about contemporary and emerging national security challenges related to strategic conflict through independent research, workshops, and publications. The Center’s work is conducted on an entirely unclassified basis and is multidisciplinary and entirely nonpartisan in character.

You will

• Conduct research on politically significant national security topics in line with CGSR research thrust areas.  
• Publish papers via CGSR’s in-house publication options and/or external outlets such as peer-reviewed journals.
• Communicate and present research findings to different audiences, including the laboratory, U.S. policymakers, officials in allied countries, academia, think tanks, or at workshops and conferences.
• Lead or contribute to the organization and execution of CGSR workshops.
• Respond effectively to the needs of CGSR and other LLNL managers with timely, high quality, finished analyses for presentation or publication.
• Pursue independent (but complementary) research interests and interact with a broad spectrum of scientists internally and externally.
• Collaborate with others in a multidisciplinary team environment to accomplish research goals.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• PhD in Political Science, International Relations, the physical or life sciences, engineering, regional or area studies, or a related field.
• Experience researching, analyzing, and writing on one or more of the following subjects: nuclear deterrence, arms control, nonproliferation, emerging technologies, cybersecurity, biological & chemical security, and energy security.
• Experience and expertise in one or more of the following areas: writing for policymakers, analysis of technical issues in international security, experience in U.S. foreign affairs in the executive or legislative branch, relevant experience in intelligence, academia, or the think tank community.
• Experience effectively conducting independent re