Mechanical Engineer

Idaho National Laboratory is hiring a Mechanical Engineer to work in our Facility & Systems Engineering department. Our team works a 4x10 schedule located out of our Materials and Fuels Complex with every Friday off.

In this role, you will apply mechanical engineering principles to address challenges involving heat transfer, fluid dynamics, gas flow, and material behavior. You will design machines and systems that operate safely, efficiently, and reliably.

Responsibilities Include:

• Decompose project objectives into defined and controlled design requirements.
• Use design methodologies, technologies, and processes which are best practice for the technical discipline to develop and define a design, and to validate that the design meets defined requirements.
• Develop physics-based mathematical models of mechanical, chemical, and electrical systems to support and verify design.
• Maintain familiarity with and technical understanding of codes and standards applicable to the discipline.
• Document the design (controlled and approved models, drawings, specifications, design descriptions) to establish conformance with design requirements and applicable codes and standards.
• Establish testing, inspection, and quality requirements to ensure technical features important to design functions are maintained.
• Oversee or otherwise ensure that fabrication, construction, assembly, and procurement are done in accordance with the design.
• Develop and maintain the assigned systems/equipment. Perform calculations related to the specifications of project, including analysis and evaluation of location, material resources, and mechanical design.
• Provide solutions to technical problems and recommendations for improvements in production activities. This may include planning, design, and constructing manufacturing facilities and similar structures or production processes.
• Apply engineering principles to monitor and evaluate condition and operational performance of plant systems related to mechanical engineering; recommend maintenance and repair standards and procedures, identify vendor data, replacement, and spare parts; coordinate resources and priorities necessary to attain or maintain the appropriate system condition.
• Support and lead the development of new projects at the INL in area of specialty, including the development of proposals and business plans.
• Ensure any design modification meets the technical baseline requirements and applicable codes and regulations.
• Recommend and initiate modifications to support programmatic missions and operational goals and lead preparation of design efforts.
• Develop, ensure adequacy of, and maintain configuration management of the technical baseline. Establish and maintain configuration management of assigned system. Maintain cognizance of system/equipment status and performance through review of operating logs and observation of operations.
• Ensure consistency in operation characteristics among applicable documents such as drawings, technical manuals, operating instructions, emergency operating procedures.
• Enhance technical/professional skills of junior engineering staff through mentoring and training.
• Work with other designers, customers, and analysts to develop experiment requirements, perform conceptual and final designs, follow all fabrication and inspection activities, lead experiment assembly activities, support installation and testing of experiments, and support development of integrated analyses in order to ensure that facility safety bases are met.
• Responsible for experiment design and fabrication and associated activities leading to irradiation. Establish experiment designs, demonstrate experiment requirements, and confirm experiment integrated analyses to ensure nuclear safety basis are met.
• Development and deployment of methods, instrumentation, and devices for the post-irradiation examination (PIE) of irradiated test fuel. Provide innovative technical solutions to problems pertaining to irradiated fuel characterization. Lead the design and development of the next generation of experimental setups.
• Serve as design engineer directing ongoing fueled test train fabrication tasks.
• Lead the development of project specific documentation, such as checked and signed drawings. Check drawings developed by others.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements:

• Level 1: Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and 0 years of experience
• Level 2: Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering or directly related engineering degree from an ABET accredited institution and 2 years of experience. Master’s and 0 years of experience. PhD and 0 years experience.
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy "L" which requires U.S. Citizenship.

Job Information:

• The pay range for this position is Level 1 ($65,064 - $133,416)/ Level 2 ($77,628 - $159,228). At Idaho National Laboratory compensation decisions are determined using factors such as education, relevant experience, and other credentials.
• TDP: This is a testing designated position; you will be required to submit to a pre-employment drug screen and periodic drug testing throughout the term of your employment.
• Multi-Level: This is a multi-level posting and you will be placed at the appropriate level dependent on depth and breadth of proven experience and skills.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this classification, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, stoop, kneel, bend, and work in an office and field/laboratory environment. The job requires hand/finger dexterity to keyboard or type, handle materials, manipulate tools, and reach with hands and arms. The job requires the operation of job-related equipment and driving a vehicle. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 35 pounds without assistance. Sufficient visual acuity and hearing capacity to perform the essential functions and interact with the public is required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Benefits and Relocation

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Flexible Spending Accounts
• 401(k) with a 4.2% employer contribution and up to 4.8% match
• Paid time off (personal leave)
• Employee Education Program (tuition assistance)
• Comprehensive Relocation Package
• Benefit eligibility subject multiple factors, including employment status and position classification.

INL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s mission in nuclear energy research, science, and national defense. With more than 6,300 scientists, researchers, and support staff, the laboratory works with national and international governments, universities and industry partners to change the world’s energy future and secure our nation’s critical infrastructure.