Scientist 2

What You Will Do
The Structure/Property Relations group at Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking a Scientist 2 to investigate deformation, damage, and fracture in structural and energetic materials through complementary experiments and modeling. You will join the Microstructure Response and Degradation Science team, which combines mechanical testing and microstructural characterization with physics-based modeling and high-performance computing. This work supports national security, nuclear energy, and other Laboratory missions.
You will design and conduct mechanical and micromechanical experiments, characterize microstructure and strain localization, develop and implement material models in finite element and multiphysics software, and perform large-scale simulations. Experimental measurements will guide model development, calibration, and validation, while simulations will help design experiments and interpret measured material response.
In this role, you will:

• Design and conduct mechanical and micromechanical experiments that quantify deformation, damage, and fracture under relevant loading conditions.
• Characterize microstructure and strain localization using digital image correlation, electron backscatter diffraction, microscopy, and related methods.
• Generate reproducible experimental datasets for model development and connect processing, microstructure, and measured mechanical response.
• Formulate, calibrate, verify, and validate constitutive and fracture models for structural and energetic materials.
• Develop, test, and maintain finite element research software for parallel simulations on CPU and GPU platforms.
• Perform high-performance simulations for homogenization, uncertainty quantification, and multi-material response, and compare predictions directly with experiments.
• Analyze experimental and modeling results, document methods, publish and present research, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, and contribute to proposals and program deliverables.

What You Need
Minimum Job Requirements:

Experimental Materials Research: Demonstrated experience designing and conducting materials experiments, including mechanical or micromechanical testing, microstructural characterization, and quantitative data analysis.
Computational Modeling: Demonstrated research experience in computational solid mechanics or computational materials science, including finite element or related numerical methods and models for plasticity, damage, fracture, or microstructure evolution.
Experimental and Modeling Integration: Demonstrated ability to use experimental observations for model development, calibration, and validation and to use simulations to guide experiments and interpret measured response.
Scientific Software and High Performance Computing: Experience developing, testing, and documenting scientific software and running parallel simulations on high-performance computing systems.
Research Delivery and Communication: Demonstrated ability to carry technical work from problem formulation through implementation and analysis, and to communicate results in reports, publications, or presentations.
Collaboration and Professional Standards: Ability to work independently and in multidisciplinary teams while maintaining a safe, secure, respectful work environment and meeting program deliverables.
Education and Experience: 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:

• A doctoral degree in materials science, mechanical engineering, computational science, applied mathematics, or a closely related field.
• Advanced experience with experimental mechanics and microstructural characterization, including high-resolution digital image correlation, electron backscatter diffraction, microscopy, or small-scale mechanical testing.
• Experience developing or implementing finite-strain constitutive models, including large-strain plasticity, viscoelastic or viscoplastic response, crystal plasticity, or phase-field damage and fracture.
• Experience with performance-portable or open-source finite element software, matrix-free methods, multigrid solvers, and CPU or GPU computing; familiarity with PETSc, libCEED, MFEM, MOOSE, FEniCS, or comparable frameworks.
• Experience applying integrated experiments and modeling to energetic materials, multi-material shock response, nuclear structural materials, or thermomechanical manufacturing processes, including homogenization, uncertainty quantification, or surrogate modeling.
• A record of peer-reviewed publications, scientific presentations, proposal development, or technical leadership in collaborative research.

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: Submit a resume or curriculum vitae with publications and relevant research software, along with a cover letter addressing the minimum job requirements and desired qualifications. Include links to public software repositories or research products when available.
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 maternity 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.
No Clearance: Position does not require a security clearance. Selected candidates will be subject to drug testing and other pre-employment background checks.
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 [email protected] or call (505)-664-6947.