Director - Facility and Testbed Engineering

Mission Support & Test Services, LLC (MSTS) • Mercury, NV

8d • $221,541 - $365,539 • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Facility and Testbed Engineering (F&TE) provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and operational management for multidisciplinary engineering organizations operating within nuclear and high-hazard facilities at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Working for Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (MSTS), the prime contractor for the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Director aligns F&TE resources with national security and stockpile stewardship priorities. These include executing the Subcritical Experiment (SCE) schedule of record, fielding next-generation diagnostics, deploying high-hazard qualification testbeds, and modernizing infrastructure.

The Director is accountable for the administrative, financial, safety, and technical performance of assigned engineering and operational functions. The role oversees mission execution, organizational planning, performance baselines, interagency and laboratory partnerships, nuclear facility design authority, regulatory compliance, safety culture, staffing, and leadership development.

The primary work location is the NNSS, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The schedule is four 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, subject to change. A pre-placement physical examination, including a drug screen, is required; random drug testing also applies. The position requires a valid driver’s license and eligibility to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. The role may also require counterintelligence evaluation, potentially including a polygraph examination.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in a related field, or equivalent training and experience, and at least 20 years of related, progressively responsible engineering, technical, or facility operations experience in a nuclear, high-hazard, or heavily regulated industrial or defense environment.
• Bachelor of Science degree in an ABET-accredited engineering discipline, such as mechanical, electrical, nuclear, civil, or systems engineering, or in a related physical science field.
• At least 8 years of direct managerial experience leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations, including supervising subordinate managers, executing technical work scopes, and administering operational budgets.
• Demonstrated success managing or influencing large organizations, such as teams of 100 or more full-time equivalents or substantial matrixed technical teams.
• Demonstrated understanding of engineering management in Hazard Category 2/3 nuclear facilities and high-hazard operations.
• High-level familiarity with Documented Safety Analyses, Technical Safety Requirements, and readiness review frameworks.
• Ability to build trust, gain consensus, and resolve conflicts across diverse internal and external organizations, including federal oversight bodies and national laboratory partners.
• Experience managing complex operational budgets, project management frameworks, and resource-leveling strategies.
• Ability to make sound, defensible technical and management decisions amid ambiguity or limited information.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance; U.S. citizenship is required for clearance eligibility.
• Successful completion of required pre-employment drug testing and background review; the selected applicant is subject to federal background investigation and subsequent reinvestigations.
• Successful completion of a counterintelligence evaluation may be required, potentially including a counterintelligence-scope polygraph examination.
• Pre-placement physical examination, including a drug screen; random drug testing applies.

Nice To Haves

• Current Professional Engineer (PE) registration.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Firsthand experience with DOE/NNSA engineering, operations, and facility maintenance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Drive NNSA mission priorities, including increasing SCE and JASPER experimental cadence, supporting high-explosive physics experiments, and modernizing waste disposition services.
• Establish long-range plans, organizational policies, and tactical objectives aligned with future NNSA and NNSS business opportunities.
• Direct cost, schedule, technical baselines, and performance metrics for F&TE functions, and implement corrective actions for variances or operational issues.
• Partner with the NNSA Nevada Field Office, NNSA headquarters, National Weapons Laboratories (LANL, LLNL, SNL), and internal peer organizations to achieve shared mission objectives.
• Maintain design authority and technical baselines for advanced experimental testbeds, subterranean facilities such as the U1a Complex/PULSE, and nuclear facilities such as DAF.
• Ensure compliance with DOE facility safety and capital asset project management orders, and Conduct of Engineering principles.
• Coordinate with nuclear safety organizations to align engineering activities with DSAs, PDSAs, and TSRs under 10 CFR 830.
• Model and champion a Safety Conscious Work Environment in which personnel can identify, report, and resolve safety and security concerns without retaliation.
• Implement and enforce NNSS and federal environmental, safety, health, and quality policies; take immediate action to correct noncompliant conditions or behaviors.
• Ensure personnel have the procedures, training, safety equipment, and tools needed to conduct high-hazard operations safely and compliantly.
• Lead recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies to sustain a highly technical workforce for expanding NNSA mission requirements.
• Set clear performance expectations and hold managers and staff accountable to company values, behaviors, and core procedures.
• Mentor and develop technical leaders and ensure succession planning and structured career pathways for engineering personnel.
• Create an environment where employees feel safe raising issues, empowered to address them, and supported in resolving them.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Pension and 401(k).
• Paid time off and 96 hours of paid holidays.
• Relocation assistance for employees located more than 75 miles from the work location.
• Tuition assistance and reimbursement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director