Chemical Engineer

About the position

The Mission Concepts & Capabilities (MCC) division of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is seeking a Mechanical Engineer or Chemical Engineer or Physical Scientist with experience and/or training in explosives and energetics materials properties, proper handling and testing. The successful candidate will perform as a member of a Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) contractor team responsible for providing technical direction and program management support expertise to government civilian and military program managers for projects focused on pre-Milestone A RDT&E of weapons and capabilities (TRL 3-6) designed for countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD). Candidate will be working on multiple initiatives at the component through the system level, from concept development through demonstration and transition to US military end users. The position offers the successful candidate good work-life balance as a hybrid position with duty in customer (government) offices located at Kirtland AFB and at home in the Albuquerque, NM area. This position is for full-time employment. The candidate should expect at times to travel up to 25% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Participate in customer program technical meetings and contract performer engagements and technical planning meetings and reviews, to provide technical subject matter expertise in explosives and energetic materials development, testing, and integration
• Develop professional quality work product in fulfillment of program management support responsibilities to include writing white papers, researching and writing university-quality research papers, developing spreadsheets and PowerPoint briefings as required
• Review contracted performer activities and provide technical recommendations to government PMs regarding program cost, schedule, and performance

Requirements

• US Citizen
• Ability to be granted interim SECRET clearance
• Masters degree in one of the following disciplines: Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Material Science, Chemical Engineering
• 3-5 years relevant, formal training and/or hands-on experience in explosives/energetic materials to include programs involving explosives, energetic materials, weapon payload development, or weapons system integration
• Hands-on project development and execution for RDT&E of explosives/energetic materials, including energetics processing methods, formulation process development, testing, instrumentation and data analysis, payload development and integration
• A working-level knowledge and/or experience with DOE explosive Modeling and Simulation (M&S) codes, such as CHEETAH, TIGER Graduate Level degree in Mechanical Engineering, Material Science, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry

Nice-to-haves

• Graduate-level degree in Explosives Engineering
• Experience with DoD energetics/munitions programs
• Program management experience
• Acquisition and/or Technical Management certifications
• M&S experience with shockwave codes such as CTH and ALE3D or equivalent