Senior/Principal Computer Scientist - Software Development Testing, Onsite

About Sandia

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co-workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

• These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like

We are seeking Software Engineering professionals to join a high-performing team focusing on system integration and testing for space missions. In this role, you will have opportunities to collaborate on the design, development, testing, and deployment of advanced real-time decision support ground systems. Work will include both manual testing using formal test procedures and automated testing using in-house developed automation test tools. You will work with experienced engineers and testers, receive mentoring, and progressively take on increasing responsibility while growing your skills in test automation, requirements-based verification using formal test procedures, and system integration. As a mid-career team member, you will be expected to independently drive test strategy and execution for assigned capabilities, influence design-for-test, and improve automation frameworks and practices across the team.

On Any Given Day, You May Be Called To

• Lead collaboration with software architects, system engineers, developers, technical leads, customers, and end users to collect and analyze requirements and translate them into verification approaches, formal test procedures, and automated test designs.
• Contribute to the design, development, and delivery of technology solutions that improve software quality by influencing system/test architecture and design-for-testability decisions.
• Generate automated tests to verify system functionality and own the health, coverage, and maintainability of assigned automated test suites.
• Plan and support formal test activities at multiple levels, from components to the enterprise system, including test readiness, execution leadership for assigned events, and stakeholder status reporting.
• Contribute to research and development activities, including proposing improvements and new ideas and driving improvements into team practice/tools.
• Work within a team of system testers to perform requirements verification on a large, multi-node, Linux-based satellite ground system with responsibility for end-to-end verification of assigned subsystems/capabilities.
• Define and evolve testing strategies as the ground system is migrated to newer technologies, such as cloud computing and containerization, including how verification will be executed in containerized and/or cloud-like environments.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement automated test strategies and tools by evaluating options, making recommendations, and implementing selected approaches.
• Perform manual testing using formal test procedures and run automated tests on a regular basis while establishing repeatable, auditable test execution practices.
• Analyze manual and automated test results, report status, and follow up on failed tests through anomaly triage, root-cause analysis, and tracking to closure.
• Maintain test artifacts such as procedures, reports, and release notes; improve and extend test procedures as the system evolves and requirements are updated.
• Maintain and extend in-house Python-based automation test tools by improving framework capabilities (reliability, scalability, maintainability, and documentation).
• Evaluate and adopt new automated testing methods and tools as the system evolves to a new architecture, including CI/CD-driven testing and modern toolchains aligned to migration.
• Develop and apply testing skills to support user requirements for highly complex software/hardware applications, serving as a testing subject matter expert (SME) to advise developers and system engineers.
• Support customer-facing milestone test activities (e.g., readiness reviews, execution support, reporting, and follow-up), communicating technical status, risks, and mitigations.
• Perform requirements-based verification and regression testing of software changes, participate in code reviews, and provide actionable feedback to improve code quality and testability.
• Debug issues in distributed, multi-node Linux environments using standard troubleshooting approaches (e.g., logs, metrics/telemetry, configuration review, and command-line tools).
• Mentor less-experienced team members in test design, automation practices, and troubleshooting techniques.

Due to the nature of work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Salary Range

$117,500 - $235,700

• Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Qualifications We Require

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
• The ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q and SCI clearance.

Qualifications We Desire

The ideal R&D S&E Computer Science candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Computer Science or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Demonstrated software development skills and familiarity with modern software development practices and tools (e.g., Agile).
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams, and a passion to improve and expand technical skills.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• Experience with design, development, and execution of software testing (automated and manual) including independently developing test strategies and driving issues to resolution
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and influence technical decisions based on verification findings
• Experience with Linux
• Programming experience in a high-level language (e.g., Python, Java, or C/C++) applied to test automation, tooling, or software quality workflows
• Cloud technologies, containerization (OCI/Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes)
• Experience working with large, established codebases (3.5M+ lines of code)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and associated tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab/GitHub, Maven/Gradle, Docker)
• Experience evaluating, recommending, and implementing new test tools/strategies in evolving architectures
• Experience leading formal test execution (readiness, execution, reporting) and driving anomaly triage to closure

About Our Team

Organization 06333 is responsible for system integration and testing of a large, complex satellite ground system which is being developed to support high consequence national security missions. Our development supports a range of applications and complexities, including remote sensing systems, satellite communications and control, distributed computing and analysis, and real-time data collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination. Our team¿s deep domain and technical experience, coupled with an operational mindset builds distinct and extraordinary capabilities for our nation and the people who put their lives on the line to protect it. We have expertise in R&D across many disciplines including large-scale software engineering, computer science, and system engineering. We build this mission together in a culture of collaboration, open dialogue, and respect¿recognizing that strong outcomes come from strong teams.

Posting Duration

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance and SCI access, both of which require US citizenship. SCI access may also require a polygraph examination. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain these levels of access may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by the DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

Eeo

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements For MedPEDs

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

Job ID: 699012

Job Family: RD

Regular/Temporary Position: R

Full/Part-Time Status: F