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Requirements Engineer (Scientist 1/2)

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos, NM

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JOB DETAILS
SALARY
$96,600–$158,000 Per Year
SKILLS
Aerospace and Defense, Atlassian JIRA, Change Control, Communication Skills, Computer Science, Configuration Management, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Functional, DOE Clearance, DOE-Q (Top Secret Restricted Data), Data Analysis, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Data Migration, Data Modeling, Data Quality, Database Administration, Dental Insurance, Design Verification, Documentation, Documentation Standards, Email Response Management System (ERMS), Establish Priorities, IBM Product Family, Insurance Documentation, Laboratory, Microsoft Access Database, Microsoft Project, Multitasking, Operations Security (OPSEC), Physics, Problem Solving Skills, Product Requirements Document (PRD), Project Management Software, Project Tracking, Project/Program Management, Quality Assurance, Quality Management, Requirements Derivation, Requirements Management, Requirements Validation/Verification, Risk Analysis, Scripting (Scripting Languages), Software Engineering, System Integration (SI), System Lifecycle, System Validation, Systems Administration/Management, Systems Engineering, Team Player, Technical Analysis, Technical Leadership, Technical Presentation, Technical Support, Technical Writing, Technical/Engineering Design, Test Requirements, Testing, Traceability, Tuition Fees, United States Citizen, United States Department of Defense (DoD), Validation Plan, Validation Testing, Verification Plans, Vision Plan, Willing to Travel
LOCATION
Los Alamos, NM
POSTED
30+ days ago
What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the Scientist 1 or 2 level, depending on the skills of the selected candidate. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if the candidate is hired at the higher level.

Scientist 1 $96,600 - $158,000

As a Requirements Engineer in the Design & Engineering Standards (W-DES) group, you will serve as a technical integrator supporting multiple weapon systems (B61, W76, W78, W88, and W93). This role combines systems engineering, communication, and digital engineering to ensure that product and system requirements are rigorously developed, maintained, and verified throughout the system lifecycle. You will collaborate closely with system engineers, physicists, design leads, and national security partners such as the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

Key Responsibilities:
  • Elicit, analyze, and validate requirements from stakeholders, design teams, and national security partners (DoD, NNSA).
  • Develop and maintain structured requirements documentation, ensuring traceability between requirements, design intent, and verification evidence.
  • Apply configuration management principles to maintain controlled, versioned requirements baselines across programs.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams including physicists, system engineers, and design leads to translate technical concepts into measurable, verifiable requirements.
  • Conduct requirements reviews to ensure completeness, correctness, and alignment with design and safety objectives.
  • Use requirements management tools such as IBM DOORS, DOORS Next Gen, or equivalent platforms to manage and link requirement sets.
  • Support system verification and validation activities by coordinating requirement test plans and ensuring verification evidence is linked to specific requirements.
  • Communicate effectively across disciplines, facilitating stakeholder understanding of requirement scope, dependencies, and constraints.
  • Contribute to digital engineering and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) initiatives by integrating requirements into digital models and data environments.

Scientist 2 $106,400 - $176,000

In addition to what was outlined at the lower level, at this level must be able to operate independently and must exercise personal initiative in successfully completing assigned tasks.

What You Need
Minimum Job Requirements:

Systems/Software Engineering Knowledge
  • Understanding systems/software engineering, including design, requirements derivation, verification, and validation.
  • Ability to analyze technical data, translate stakeholder needs into measurable engineering specifications
  • Apply knowledge of system life cycle management, design control, and systems integration practices.

Communication and Collaboration
  • Ability to clearly document and present technical information to diverse audiences.
  • Ability to effectively participate in stakeholder reviews including communicating requirement changes or exceptions.
  • Demonstrated skill in building productive relationships with internal and external partners to ensure requirements align with mission objectives and customer expectations.

Requirements Management
  • Experience using management tools to organize data, maintain configuration-controlled baselines, and ensure consistency across the system lifecycle.

Technical Project Management
  • Demonstrated ability to define project scope, plan and prioritize work, and execute assigned technical tasks across multiple projects.
  • Experience coordinating with multidisciplinary teams to align engineering activities with program milestones and objectives.
  • Ability to track progress and manage requirement development workflows using project management or collaboration tools (e.g., JIRA, or MS Project).

Quality and Compliance
  • Ability to apply established quality assurance and documentation standards to ensure accuracy and consistency of data across engineering tools and repositories.
  • Experience assisting with verification and validation activities to confirm completeness, traceability, and compliance with procedures and configuration-control practices.
  • Knowledge of data integrity principles and continuous improvement methods, with the ability to identify and help resolve issues that affect documentation accuracy or process efficiency.


Additional Job Requirements for Scientist 2:

In addition to the requirements outlined above, qualification at the higher level requires:
  • Ability to apply systems/software engineering and requirements management principles with minimal supervision, demonstrating initiative and sound technical judgment.
  • Ability to develop and maintain structured requirements and support the creation of requirement management plans that guide system decomposition, rationale development, and verification planning.
  • Knowledge of requirement analysis and quality principles, including identifying gaps or unclear requirements and evaluating them for acceptance and alignment with standards.
  • Facilitate stakeholder reviews, resolve requirement gaps or inconsistencies, and ensure alignment with program and Laboratory standards.
  • Coordinate and execute technical project work across multiple efforts, identifying risks and dependencies while maintaining schedule and quality objectives.
  • Contribute to verification and validation activities and promote continuous improvement in requirements and documentation processes.


Education/Experience at Scientist 1: Position requires a Bachelor's degree in a STEM field from an accredited college or university and 2 years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.

Education/Experience at Scientist 2: Positions requires a Bachelor' degree in a STEM field from an accredited college and university and 4 years of related experience, typically with post-doctoral research experience at a university or national lab or equivalent experience directly related to the occupation.

Desired Qualifications:
  • Experience supporting nuclear, aerospace, or defense systems.
  • Proficiency with collaborative engineering tools and software
  • Degree in Computer Science
  • Skill in performing and documenting data migrations or schema integrations to support system transitions (e.g., Enterprise Requirements Management System (ERMS) and model-based systems engineering (MBSE).
  • Experience developing, documenting, and maintaining structured requirement sets using tools such as IBM DOORS/DOORS Next Gen or equivalent requirements management systems.
  • Experience creating and managing requirement modules, attributes, and traceability links to maintain disciplined configuration-controlled baselines.
  • Experience maintaining and administering requirements databases, including managing access permissions, synchronizing data across tools, enhancing tool capabilities (e.g., custom scripts or templates), and ensuring data integrity and reliability.
  • Ability to integrate requirements with MBSE environments and provide design and verification requirements that inform downstream test and validation planning.
  • Active DOE Q clearance or ability to obtain one.


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.

Note to Applicants:
  • For full consideration, applicants are required to submit a comprehensive cover letter detailing knowledge, skills, and abilities against the required and desired skills listed above.
  • The work location for this position is located on-site in Los Alamos, NM. Periods of travel are required. Applicants can expect to travel 10-15% of their time.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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 childbirth and parental leave
  • Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
  • Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
  • Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
  • 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.

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.

Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, 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, state, and local 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 (505)-664-6947.

About the Company

L

Los Alamos National Laboratory