Manager, Science and Engineering, Autonomous Sensing & Perception - Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
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• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

We are seeking a motivated R&D manager for Department 5448 to provide leadership for and coordination of a department focused on the delivery of Automated Target Recognition (ATR) and Precision Geolocation algorithms for a variety of applications including Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance for military customers. The bulk of this work is executed through software algorithm research and development done at both the classified and unclassified levels. The manager will have responsibility, jointly with the 5445 manager, for software Development Operations (Dev Ops) using formal software development processes.

It is expected that the manager of department 5448 work closely with the manager and staff located in department 5445 to develop ATR and Precision Geolocation technologies. Both departments are connected in an enterprise plan that links them to each other to enable coordinated research and development leading to technical insertion in customer applications and environments. The manager must also be able to establish and maintain strong reciprocal relationships in a teaming environment both within and amongst the center management organization, while serving as a collaborative partner with staff and managers across multiple Sandia divisions and centers that perform work of a similar nature. The vision is for broad collaboration across multiple Sandia projects and common representation with customers to maintain a one Sandia connection for Automated Target Recognition and Precision Geolocation work.

The manager will be responsible for hiring, managing, and supporting the career development of a technically diverse workforce and ensuring both the technical success of their work and safe operations. The manager must establish and maintain an exceptional career environment for strong workforce recruiting and retention, and for engaging staff in development and mentoring. The manager will not only work with current customers to execute and develop proposals for new work but will also be expected to expand the portfolio of military service customers. This may mean travel to customer locations and community events such as conferences, symposia, workshops, and technical exchange meetings at various locations.

• Coordinate, guide, and supervise research of staff members on Automated Target Recognition and Precision Geolocation projects as directly applied to customer mission needs.
• Provide leadership and guidance to the work of the department. This includes performance reviews of staff members, mentoring to interns, and traditional management tasks.
• Provide a connection for the work and expertise of the organization with potential beneficiaries, collaborators, and customers.
• Manage and coordinate specific deliverables, overall program and project plans, budgets, structures, schedules, and staffing requirements.
• Creation of trust-based relationships with customers, performers, and stakeholders to foster a collaborative work environment and enable the development of work plans that meet multiple conflicting needs.
• Apply organization knowledge and experience to independently judge work quality, performance, and alignment of results with customer expectations.
• Oversee and manage members of the workforce within the organization, including hiring, professional development, and assessment and performance management, consistent with the mission of the organization.
• Advise/mentor and support the development of both staff members and interns including providing guidance in self-learning activities.

Due to the nature of the work, this candidate must be able to work onsite. The ability to travel up to 2 times a month.

$163,700 - $278,000

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and eight (8) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
• Active US DOE Q or equivalent DoD Top Secret security clearance.
• Ability to obtain and maintain US DOE SCI access, which may require a polygraph test.

The ideal R&D Manager candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Two or more years of demonstrated leadership experience.
• A graduate degree in science or engineering (MS or Ph.D.).
• Outstanding interpersonal skills in developing trusting relationships with peers, staff, management, customers, and stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in the development and delivery of presentations, proposals, reports and documentation.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• Experience providing leadership to enable and motivate a team to deliver high-impact results.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex systems development problems while managing the funding and execution of research and development for delivery of hardware and/or software to meet customer needs.
• Familiarity with software development operations and best practices and delivering software products from concept to deployment.Advanced degree (Masters or Doctorate) in a discipline with a focus on remote sensing, computer vision, photogrammetry, or autonomous systems (refer to above list for examples)
• Familiarity with modern (Agile and other) software development methods and continuous integration approaches
• Familiarity with active (e.g. SAR, LIDAR) and passive (e.g. EO/IR, FMV) imaging modalities
• Experience with image and signal processing, computer vision, photogrammetry, remote sensing, and machine intelligence (artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning)
• Familiarity with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image formation and utilization for performing Automatic Target Recognition (ATR)
• Successful experience in business development with the Department of Defense or similar government entities including understanding of the SPP/SIPP process and business model at Sandia.
• Demonstrated ability to steward significant customer funding while reviewing team progress and developing enduring capabilities.
• Interest and capability to build a team through intern and staff hiring.
• Strong desire to support and work interactively in a teaming environment with management organizations, project groups, customers, and external university partners.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and time-management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage diverse security requirements, from unclassified to highly classified environments.
• Active SCI access.

The Autonomous Sensing & Perception Operations Department (5448) provides Automatic Target Recognition and Precision Geolocation software solutions to support programs within the Integrated Military Systems Center at Sandia. The department develops, implements, and deploys quantitative methods for the detection, identification, classification, and contextualization of objects of interest in orbital, aerial, and terrestrial sensor data to support autonomous decision making by associated platforms and their support equipment. It does so by drawing on expertise from a wide array of fields that include engineering, mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, imaging science, remote sensing, computer vision, and photogrammetryto name only a few. The department applies these methods to a variety of sensor modalities including Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR); High Range Resolution (HRR) Radar; Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR, spanning VNIR/SWIR/MWIR/LWIR); Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR); Full Motion Video (FMV); Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT); and acoustics. The work is primarily focused on software, but developed capabilities must interface with hardware systems (edge platforms, ground stations, cloud services) to be successful. The department focuses on the deployment of algorithms and approaches but is expected to partner with Department 5445 (Autonomous Sensing & Perception R&D) on the maturation and deployment of these algorithms. The department strives to provide leadership to the Laboratory and the Nation in the creative development, use, and application of both Automatic Target Recognition and Precision Geolocation technologies. The department staff pride themselves in team accomplishments, professional development, and the mentorship of others.

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.