Senior Scientist - Physicist

Location: On-site in Livermore, California, United States; occasional travel to the North Las Vegas Facility, NNSS in Mercury, Nevada, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Physical on-site access at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is required.

Annual salary: $101,524.80–$152,297.60.

Company

hirify.global manages and operates the Nevada National Security Sites for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration and supports high-hazard experimentation and national security missions.

What you will do

• Design, model, specify, calibrate, characterize, and deploy diagnostics across IR, visible, UV, X-ray, and neutron regimes.
• Develop specialized detectors using atomic and nuclear physics, spectroscopy, metrology, and crystallography.
• Integrate, bench-test, assemble, align, and operate electromechanical and optical instrumentation during shot cycles at LO and partner facilities.
• Develop standard operating procedures, automated control routines, safety documentation, test plans, technical reports, manuscripts, and SDRD proposals.
• Process, calibrate, and analyze shot data, including uncertainty quantification and physical interpretation.
• Coordinate schedules, deliverables, and field interfaces with principal investigators, shot directors, and facility operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a calculus-based technical STEM field plus at least 5 years of relevant experience; or a master’s degree in an applicable STEM discipline plus at least 3 years of progressive relevant experience; or a Ph.D. with doctoral or postdoctoral research aligned with dynamic experimentation, laser-plasma physics, high-energy-density science, or optical/nuclear diagnostics.
• Direct operational experience designing, fielding, or analyzing data from diagnostic instruments at NIF, Omega Laser Facility, Z Machine, or underground testing environments.
• Advanced expertise in X-ray imaging, neutron imaging, high-speed streak or framing cameras, or time-resolved optical spectroscopy.
• Experience setting up and operating R&D instrumentation in a laboratory environment, with exposure to programming platforms and strong technical writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work in hazardous environments involving high-voltage systems, visible and ultraviolet lasers, large-scale pulsed-power machines, and vacuum or pressurized systems.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, interpret applicable codes and standards, and comply with laws, orders, and MSTS policies and procedures.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, requiring U.S. citizenship; applicants must be at least 18 years old and may be subject to counterintelligence evaluation and polygraph requirements.
• Pre-placement physical examination, drug screening, background investigation, and ongoing reinvestigation are required.
• Valid driver’s license required.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of Chicago, COMSOL, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Python, or AI-related software.
• Knowledge of spectroscopy, crystallography, metrology, atomic and nuclear physics, and mechanical and electrical design.
• High-voltage pulsed-power experience.
• Ph.D. in Physics, Applied Physics, Optics, or Nuclear Engineering.
• Experience writing successful technical proposals and serving as a Principal Investigator.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with medical, dental, vision, pension, and 401(k) benefits.
• Paid time off, 96 hours of paid holidays, tuition assistance, and reimbursement.
• Relocation support may be available for employees located more than 75 miles from the work location.
• Work requires disciplined laboratory and field practices, open communication, collaboration, and adherence to safety procedures.
• MSTS maintains a substance-abuse policy that includes random drug testing.