Mechanical Engineer Level 2/3

Idaho National Laboratory•Idaho Falls, ID

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Idaho National Laboratory is hiring a Mechanical Engineer for its Reactor Project Engineering team at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC). The role supports the design, development, testing, and verification of complex electrical, mechanical, and/or software systems and components using a rigorous systems engineering approach. The engineer analyzes plans and projects to establish operational objectives, high-level functions, and detailed requirements; evaluates design alternatives; and identifies opportunities to integrate technologies and develop innovative solutions. The position serves as a technical authority and cross-project resource for requirements management, configuration control, and systems documentation, coordinating with other organizations to communicate design requirements and resolve design and integration issues. Work may span multiple concurrent reactor and facility projects. The role applies systems engineering throughout the project lifecycle, including requirements development and traceability, systems integration, road mapping, and testing. It uses digital engineering and requirements-management tools to manage technical artifacts and configuration baselines, and may develop automation and AI-assisted workflows for document preparation, requirements management, and design review. The engineer also supports risk and reliability modeling, concepts of operations, technical specifications, safety-basis documentation, system architecture artifacts, control-system concepts, instrumentation and P&ID diagrams, and multidisciplinary technical reviews. The work must comply with applicable DOE orders and regulations. MFC hosts U.S. nuclear research and development capabilities, including facilities for remote work on highly irradiated fuels and materials. The position works a 4x10 schedule, with Fridays off, and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy Q clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. This is a testing-designated position subject to pre-employment and periodic drug testing. It is a multi-level posting; placement at Level 2 or Level 3 depends on the candidate’s proven experience and skills.

Requirements

Level 2: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or another related technical discipline plus 2 years of relevant experience; or an advanced degree in mechanical engineering or another related degree with 0 years of relevant experience. The degree or closely related field must be from an ABET-accredited program.
Level 3: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or another related technical discipline plus 5 years of relevant experience; or an advanced degree in mechanical engineering or another related degree with 2 years of relevant experience. The degree or closely related field must be from an ABET-accredited program.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy Q clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
Ability to meet the physical requirements of the position, including occasional lifting and/or moving of up to 30 pounds without assistance.
Ability to submit to a pre-employment drug screen and periodic drug testing during employment.

Responsibilities

Apply systems engineering principles to requirements development, decomposition, verification, and traceability across the project and system lifecycle.
Develop, implement, and integrate systems engineering principles throughout project lifecycles, including systems and organizational integration, road mapping, and testing.
Use requirements-management, product-lifecycle-management, and collaborative-review tools on assigned projects.
Create, revise, and manage configuration baselines for System Design Descriptions, Functional and Operational Requirements, Concepts of Operations, and Code of Record documents.
Reconcile discrepancies between requirements databases, document control systems, and source documents; maintain synchronization and traceability across artifacts.
Develop and apply macros, scripts, and database tools to automate document generation, formatting, difference reporting, and requirements-management tasks.
Support risk-analysis and reliability-model development, including identifying and integrating relevant data sources into risk assessments.
Develop and apply AI-assisted digital engineering workflows for completeness checks, design reviews, and comparisons of requirements against design output binders; evaluate and recommend AI tools for design reviews.
Support development of concepts of operations to identify high-level functions and detailed requirements.
Develop and implement graded systems engineering approaches and processes to meet program and customer needs.
Draft, edit, and maintain technical specifications, requirements documents, and safety-basis documentation in alignment with applicable orders, standards, codes, and regulations.
Create and interpret system architecture artifacts, including interface definitions, digital-thread documentation, and 3D models.
Author or co-author engineering specifications and serve as document owner for change requests, comment resolution, and release readiness.
Develop control-system concepts, instrumentation and P&ID diagrams, and related technical design artifacts.
Create and administer technical document reviews, coordinate reviewer input, and drive resolution of comments across multidisciplinary stakeholders.
Identify viable systems and decision-making alternatives for engineering challenges.
Develop systems models and decision-making tools to support informed, efficient, effective, and defensible customer decisions.
Support and mentor colleagues in technical writing and professional development.
Ensure activities comply with DOE orders and Federal, State, and Local regulations.
Coordinate and provide technical guidance across instrumentation and controls, networking, mechanical, safety engineering, and document control disciplines.
Mentor junior staff on tool usage, documentation practices, and systems engineering methodology.
Perform other duties as assigned by the department manager or lead engineer.