Design Physics Division Group Leader - Active Security Clearance Required - Military Veterans
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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 looking for individuals that demonstrate an understanding of working in partnership with team peers, who engage, advocate, and contribute to building an inclusive culture, and provide expertise to solve challenging problems.
Pay Rate
$182,310 - $277,344 Annually
$182,310 - $231,180 Annually for the SEL.3 level
$218,700 - $277,344 Annually for the SEL.4 level
This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. 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 have openings for a Group Leader (GL) in the Design Physics Division (DPD). You will provide leadership and oversight to your group, consisting of approximately five to eight group members, potentially including postdocs, who provide discipline expertise to the broad array of program areas in Strategic Deterrence and other LLNL programs. You will also interface between the Division management team and your group. This position is within the Strategic Deterrence (SD) Directorate.
These positions will be filled at either level based on knowledge and related experience as assessed by the hiring team. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if hired at the higher level.
These positions may offer a hybrid schedule, which includes the flexibility to work from home one or more days per week, after a probationary period. The specifics of the hybrid schedule, including the exact number of days required in the office and virtual work options, may vary based on the needs of the team and the organization.
In this role, you will
- Provide career development and leadership for an interdisciplinary group, participate in determining staffing requirements, and strategically invest in Division personnel to develop an agile, motivated, and well-trained workforce, ensuring the highest-quality personnel are recruited and retained.
- Execute the Division's long-term goals as an active participant on the division's management team.
- Provide discipline expertise for nuclear-weapon-related physics that includes primary and secondary nuclear design, Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) design, hydro experiments, and computational physics.
- Participate in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring new workforce to meet the evolving needs of LLNL Programs in collaboration with the DPD Senior Management Team.
- Actively participate in workforce planning, quality assurance, mentoring, training, reclassification, and employee development for the DPD section.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Additional job duties at the SEL.4 level
- Identify and execute the Division's long-term goals, including the DPD strategic plan, as an active participant on the division's management team.
Qualifications
- This position requires an active Department of Energy (DOE) Q-level clearance or active Top-Secret clearance issued by another U.S. government agency at the time of hire.
- Masters in Physics, Engineering or related field, or the equivalent combination of education and related experience.
- Experience and advanced understanding of research and development related to primary and secondary nuclear design, ICF design, hydro experiments, or simulation code computational physics.
- Leadership experience, including personnel management, in a high-technology research and development environment.
- Experience in decision making and the leadership skills necessary to work independently, to work effectively in a team environment, and to oversee the work of others.
- Expert communication skills, both written and verbal, necessary to effectively explain, present, negotiate, advise and influence all levels of management.
Additional Qualifications at the SEL.4 level
- Significant experience and subject matter expertise in research and development related to primary and/or secondary nuclear design, ICF design, hydro experiments, or simulation code computational physics.
- Experience leading innovative initiatives, building cooperative multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary teams and interacting, negotiating, and sustaining relationships with management, multidisciplinary teams, other divisions and directorates, external collaborators, and sponsors.
- Knowledge of and experience applying personnel policy and procedures and demonstrated ability to apply this knowledge and understanding in a wide array of situations dealing with staff.
Qualifications We Desire
- PhD in Physics, Engineering or related field, or the equivalent combination of education and related experience.
- Extensive knowledge of the weapons program or other relevant LLNL Programs and of technical research topics relevant to weapon physics and supporting technologies.
Additional Information
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Position Information
This is a Career Indefinite position, open to Lab employees and external candidates.
Why Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?
- Included in 2025 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor!
- Flexible Benefits Package
- 401(k)
- Relocation Assistance
- Education Reimbursement Program
- Flexible schedules (*depending on project needs)
- Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) - visit https://www.llnl.gov/diversity
- Our core beliefs - visit https://www.llnl.gov/diversity/our-values
- Employee engagement - visit https://www.llnl.gov/diversity/employee-engagement
Security Clearance
This position requires an active Department of Energy (DOE) Q-level clearance or active Top Secret clearance issued by another U.S. government agency at time of hire. Also, you must have the ability to obtain and maintain Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access. Please note that your current active Q or Top Secret clearance with DOE or another agency does not guarantee DOE SCI access approval; if you are denied access, you may be subject to reinvestigation of your existing Q or Top Secret Clearance.
Pre-Employment Drug Test
External applicant(s) selected for this position must pass a post-offer, pre-employment drug test. This includes testing for use of marijuana as Federal Law applies to us as a Federal Contractor.
Wireless and Medical Devices
Per the Department of Energy (DOE), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory must meet certain restrictions with the use and/or possession of mobile devices in Limited Areas. Depending on your job duties, you may be required to work in a Limited Area where you are not permitted to have a personal and/or laboratory mobile device in your possession. This includes, but not limited to cell phones, tablets, fitness devices, wireless headphones, and other Bluetooth/wireless enabled devices.
If you use a medical device, which pairs with a mobile device, you must still follow the rules concerning the mobile device in individual sections within Limited Areas. Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities require separate approval. Hearing aids without wireless capabilities or wireless that has been disabled are allowed in Limited Areas, Secure Space and Transit/Buffer Space within buildings.
How to identify fake job advertisements
Please be aware of recruitment scams where people or entities are misusing the name of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to post fake job advertisements. LLNL never extends an offer without a personal interview and will never charge a fee for joining our company. All current job openings are displayed on the Career Page under "Find Your Job" of our website. If you have encountered a job posting or have been approached with a job offer that you suspect may be fraudulent, we strongly recommend you do not respond.
To learn more about recruitment scams: https://www.llnl.gov/sites/www/files/2023-05/LLNL-Job-Fraud-Statement-Updated-4.26.23.pdf
Equal Employment Opportunity
We are an equal opportunity employer that is committed to providing all with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, protected veteran status, age, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.
We invite you to review the Equal Employment Opportunity posters which include EEO is the Law and Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision .
Reasonable Accommodation
Our goal is to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates applying and interviewing at the Laboratory. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please use our online form to submit a request.
California Privacy Notice
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants privacy rights to all California residents. The law also entitles job applicants, employees, and non-employee workers to be notified of what personal information LLNL collects and for what purpose. The Employee Privacy Notice can be accessed here .
Livermore, CA
Science and technology on a mission
For more than 60 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has applied science and technology to make the world a safer place.
Livermore’s defining responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. Yet LLNL’s mission is broader than stockpile stewardship, as dangers ranging from nuclear proliferation and terrorism to energy shortages and climate change threaten national security and global stability. The Laboratory’s science and engineering are being applied to achieve breakthroughs for counterterrorism and nonproliferation, defense and intelligence, energy and environmental security.
Our MissionLawrence Livermore National Laboratory has a mission of strengthening the United States’ security through development and application of world-class science and technology to:
- Enhance the nation’s defense.
- Reduce the global threat from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
- And respond with vision, quality, integrity and technical excellence to scientific issues of national importance.
- Lead the nation in stockpile science, innovation and sustainment.
- Be the foremost national security laboratory, anticipating, innovating and delivering solutions for the nation’s most challenging security problems.
- Be the premier destination for our nation’s very best scientists and engineers.
- Ideas. Livermore is the “new ideas” laboratory, and we continue to aspire to intellectual leadership, originality, and audacity. We support an environment that encourages open exchange and critique. Ideas also improve operations and lead to new, better ways of doing business.
- Impact. Innovation happens when new ideas have impact—on our mission, on people’s lives. Ultimately, our success depends on applying frontier science and technology, through disciplined engineering, to deliver solutions for—have impact on—our mission.
- Integrity. We serve the public interest and act to sustain the public trust through transparency, honesty, and objectivity. We act ethically in our research activities, our business practices, and our interactions with each other. We are dedicated to collective success, and committed to safety and security as an integral part of the mission.
- Inclusiveness. The challenges of our mission demand that we draw on the widest possible diversity of talents, thought, and experiences. To capitalize on the range of individual and diverse talents needed for mission success, we form and work in teams, characterized by mutual respect and support.
- Zeal. It’s good to love what you do. We value enthusiasm for and commitment to the Lab’s mission. We have a “fire in the belly” to excel, lead, and change the world. And as an institution, the Lab will aspire to be a place where people can find fulfillment and love their work. Our Priorities
- Deliver on our stockpile stewardship mission.
- Enhance and expand our mission in the broad national security space.
- Sustain and ensure that we are at the cutting edge in the science, engineering and technology capabilities our sponsors need.
- Ensure excellence in execution: deliver results of the highest quality, on schedule and on budget.
- Ensure excellence in operations: safety, security, environment and state of the art business practices and processes.
- Improve our cost effectiveness.
- Provide a first-class workplace environment to our employees.
- Expand our contributions to the local and national economy through partnerships with academia and industry.