Detector Scientist II

Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (MSTS) manages and operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).  Our MISSION is to help ensure the security of the United States and its allies by providing high-hazard experimentation and incident response capabilities through operations, engineering, education, field, and integration services and by acting as environmental stewards to the Site’s Cold War legacy.  Our VISION is to be the user site of choice for large-scale, high-hazard, national security experimentation, with premier facilities and capabilities below ground, on the ground, and in the air. (See NNSS.gov for our unique capabilities.) Our 2,750+; professional, craft, and support employees are called upon to innovate, collaborate, and deliver on some of the more difficult nuclear security challenges facing the world today.   

• MSTS offers our full-time employees highly competitive salaries and benefits packages including medical, dental, and vision; both a pension and a 401k; paid time off and 96 hours of paid holidays; relocation (if located more than 75 miles from work location); tuition assistance and reimbursement; and more.  
• MSTS is a limited liability company consisting of Honeywell International Inc. (Honeywell), Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Jacobs), and HII Nuclear Inc.

Are you interested in joining some of the brightest talent in the world to strengthen the United States’ security? Join the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), where our employees apply their expertise to create solutions for challenging, complex, and classified high-energy experiments that strengthen U.S. nuclear security.

The Stockpile Experimentation and Operations Directorate is seeking a junior-level career scientist to engage with our national security mission in research, development, and experimentation. You will have the opportunity to work on teams that ensure the security of the United States and its allies by: supporting the stewardship of the nation’s nuclear deterrent; executing national-level experiments in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s National Laboratories; working with national security partners such as the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and other federal agencies on important national security activities; and providing long-term environmental stewardship of the NNSS’s Cold War legacy.

Candidate will assist in the design, modeling, characterization, testing, and experimental fielding of advanced electro-optical diagnostics, imaging, and radiographic systems for high-energy experimentation and systems characterization, with specific task direction and supervision from more experienced scientists, engineers, and project managers. Mentorship of less experienced workers in discipline is to be expected, with advancement opportunity commensurate with demonstrable expertise. Some fielding work occurs in nuclear and/or high-hazard facilities. 

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to solutions of problems and issues with well-defined scope and moderate complexity, frequently applying established technical standards, principles, theories, concepts, and techniques, as well as technical knowledge to address problems and complete tasks with general supervision and limited guidance from more senior personnel, yet maintain frequent coordination with supervisor, project management, and related organizations.
• Productively and actively contribute to team endeavors yet exercise some independent discretion and judgement in how principles and methods are applied.
• Assist in researching, compiling, and analyzing scientific data, implement and use advanced computational methods and technological solutions for both operational and experimental needs, and initiate material procurement requests.
• Prepare technical reports and presentations, contribute insight and value to customer-project-programmatic meetings.
• Apply technical knowledge and skill to define specifications, propose designs/models, contribute to proposals and offer publications and constructive voice within the technical/scientific community.

• Bachelor’s degree in a calculus-based (STEM) field, plus at least 2 years’ relevant experience. Skill building experience must demonstrate either deeper technical specialization or additional cross-disciplinary knowledge. Graduate research experience may be recognized.
• Ability to employ recognized scientific methods.
• Professional communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Effective and respectful interpersonal skills in communication with coworkers, management, and customers.
• Productive team work ethic including management, scientists, engineers, designers, and technicians.
• Self-motivation and creativity to carry out critical and complex