Surveillance Engineer NA -122.3

The Air-Delivered Weapons Division, NA-122.3, has an immediate need for a full-time individual
to provide technical and programmatic support to the Air-Delivered Weapons Federal Program
Manager, as well as liaison with other Defense Programs (DP) and National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) organizations associated with Air-Delivered Weapons. The individual
will coordinate with NNSA Federal and Management and Operating engineers and other
technical staff and programmatic staff as well as Department of War (DoW) personnel to
support the Air-Delivered Weapons Surveillance Program.

The Air-Delivered Weapons surveillance activities provide data to evaluate the condition of the
stockpile in support of annual assessments of safety, security, reliability, and performance. The
Surveillance program has six (6) goals:

1. Identify defects (e.g., from manufacturing, design, and adversary exploitation) that
affect safety, security, performance, or reliability.
2. Identify and associate possible failure mechanisms to surveillance measurements and
then judge the risks to safety, security, and performance based on the surveillance data.
3. Calculate the margins between design requirements and performance at the
component and material levels.
4. Identify age-related changes and trends at the subsystem or component and material
levels.
5. Further develop capabilities for predictive assessments of stockpile components and
materials.
6. Provide critical data for the semiannual (May and November) Weapons Reliability
Report and the annual Report on Stockpile Assessments.
The Surveillance program components are the (1) Stockpile Evaluation program and the (2)
Enhanced Surveillance subprogram. The Stockpile Evaluation program conducts surveillance
evaluations of both the existing stockpile and newly refurbished LEP weapons (using REST -
Retrofit Evaluation System Test selections). The Enhanced Surveillance subprogram provides
the diagnostics, processes, and other tools needed by the Stockpile Evaluation program to
predict and detect initial or age‐related defects, assess reliability, and estimate component and
system lifetimes.

Surveillance evaluation activities include system-level flight tests, laboratory tests,
development of new capabilities, and analysis activities.
 Knowledge of the Surveillance Program process and requirements per NNSA-DP
Business Process System requirements.
 System level flight tests are conducted jointly with the Air Force. Newly produced
weapons or those returned from the stockpile are disassembled, and their non-nuclear
components, along with surrogate parts for the nuclear components, are used to build a
joint test assembly (JTA), which is delivered to the DOD for flight testing.
 Some JTAs contain extensive telemetry instrumentation, while others contain high-
fidelity mock nuclear assemblies to recreate the mass properties of War Reserve
weapons as closely as possible. These JTAs are flown on the respective DOD delivery
platform to gather information to assess the effectiveness and reliability of both the
weapon and the launch or delivery platform, as well as the associated crews and
procedures.
 Stockpile laboratory tests at the subsystem or component level assess major assemblies
and components and, ultimately, the materials that compose the components (e.g.,
metals, polymers, glasses, plastics, ceramics, foams, electronics, optics, and explosives).
 Enhanced surveillance activities include identification and development of needed
diagnostics, processes, and other tools to predict and detect initial or age‐related
defects, assess reliability, and estimate component and system lifetimes.
In this role, the individual will coordinate with the following individuals/groups: Air-Delivered
Weapons division personnel; Surveillance Integrated Requirements Working Group (first-level
leadership); NA-12 Senior Technical Advisor for Surveillance (STAS); B61-12 Program Managers
at the Design/Production Agencies; and all Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) site surveillance
Program Managers. The individual will help to provide a comprehensive, coordinated approach
to successfully managing and executing Air-Delivered Weapons surveillance-related activities.
At a minimum, the ideal candidate will have an in-depth understanding of the NNSA and NSE
surveillance program including: component testing; system flight and laboratory testing;
Program Control Document (PCD) requirements; Integrated Weapon Evaluation Team (IWET)
support and document development; the Surveillance Integrated Requirements Working Group
(SIRWG) review requirements, surveillance funding and project management.

Key duties/responsibilities include:
 tracking programmatic deliverables.
 reviewing and summarizing schedules and milestone status for surveillance
management.
 developing and maintaining progress tracking tools;
 applying common problem-solving techniques to technical challenges;
 proactive identification of potential issues impacting milestone completion and
reporting such to the Air-Delivered Weapons Division Director;
 preparing alternatives studies and special reports; and willingness to work with and travel to multiple NNSA Design and Production Agencies
(e.g., LANL, Pantex, KCNSC, SRS and Y-12 NSC).

Travel, when again authorized, is anticipated to be ~6 trips/year.

The work performed is extensive in scope and requires experienced individuals with
demonstrated program/project management, appropriate technical expertise, self-starting,
ability to work in a highly dynamic environment, and interface with broad range of federal and
military senior staff and leadership.

With the following NOTE, this is a full-time contractor-support position ultimately located on-
site at the NNSA offices in Albuquerque, NM


Position Description
The Air-Delivered Weapons Surveillance Engineer supports execution of the Surveillance
program, plans program activities, monitors M&O execution of approved plans, and reports on
progress, challenges, and issues. He or she provides Project Management and Engineering
Expertise to NNSA. Serves as a surveillance program advisor to the FPM on program
management issues, as well as program liaison with other Defense Programs (DP), NNSA, DoW
and Department of Energy (DOE) organizations that support NA-122.3’s mission. The
Surveillance Engineer will assist the FPM in the direction, management, and coordination of
day-to-day operations across the geographically dispersed M&O contractors, review and advise
on matters pertaining to planning, integrating, and executing policies, programs, and
procedures for development of guidance for resolving issues crossing multiple weapons
systems.

Roles/responsibilities include:
 Prepare inputs for planning documents (Surveillance Plans, Production & Planning
Directive [P&PD], Weapons Reliability Report [WRR], Stockpile Stewardship and
Management Plan [SSMP], etc.).
 Manage interfaces with DoW, Design Agencies, and Production Agencies.
 Assist Federal staff to ensure that Surveillance program plans and solutions are
proceeding on schedule, and that deliverables conform to customer requirements,
quality control standards and negotiated metrics.
 Assess and report on progress, impact, dependencies, and trends on surveillance
program components (flight test, lab test, JTA development, analysis, and capability
development, etc.) and make recommendations for improvement or revision.
 Ensure that surveillance program activities are reviewed, documented and reported in
conformance with DP, NNSA, and DOE policy, procedures, and precedent.
 Communicate complex and controversial concepts to the FPM and stakeholders for
supporting program and budget execution.
 Serve as subject matter expert advisor to the FPM and staff to resolve emerging issues
and problems.
 Apply broad and diversified knowledge of respective nuclear weapons systems,
NNSA/NSE surveillance program, relevant Phase 6.X activities and deliverables, and
program management disciplines.
 Analyze information and review system requirements for workflow, organization, and
corrective measures.
 Apply process improvement practices for the nuclear weapon surveillance activities.
 Exercise judgment and plan and accomplish goals based upon program planning and
mission performance.
 Work independently, creatively, and under general supervision.
Experience/Qualifications
 Minimum Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science, however, a degree in Business,
Program/Project Management, or closely related field with relevant experience will be
considered.
 Active DoW TS or DOE Q clearance.
 As a mid-career position, 8-15 years of relevant experience; however, a candidate with
exemplary experience less than 8 years if surveillance specific will be considered.
 Current work in support of NNSA/NSE weapon surveillance-related activities desired.
DoW work experience will be considered; however, it should be associated with nuclear
weapons programs
 Program/project management in NNSA, DoW , government or corporate environments
required.
 NNSA/DoW Interagency experience.
 Managing interdisciplinary teams.
 Knowledge of program and project management/scheduling tools and techniques.
 Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated experience in
writing and editing briefings for senior and executive managers.
 Some travel is required; currently anticipated to be ~6 trips/years to various NSE sites.