Software Engineer 3 - Seattle

Key Skills

Agile methodologies, Amazon Athena, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Big Data Technology, C# Programming, Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery - CI/CD, Data Analytics, Data pipelines, Data science techniques, DevOps, Docker, Git, Github, Java Programming, Kubernetes-K8s, Machine learning techniques, Python Programming, Rust, UI design, UX design

Job Description

Protecting U.S. residents and visitors is among our nation’s highest priorities. As adversaries gain access to sophisticated technologies and materials, the threats grow more dynamic and complex—from cyber and nuclear to chemical and biological weapons of mass effect and other forms of terrorism. The PNNL national security mission employs our researchers, tools, and technologies to play a key role in advancing the ability to identify and secure nuclear materials, detect weapons of mass effect, manage nonproliferation treaties, secure our nation's borders, and protect critical infrastructures.  PNNL’s scientific discovery and capabilities—rooted in innovative theory, methods, algorithms, and tools—are enabling stronger, more resilient technologies and systems to safeguard national security. Coupled with decades of radiological and nuclear materials expertise, advanced computing and threat analysis capabilities, and a broad fundamental science base, we are identifying and countering emerging threats that have significant impact at home and around the globe.

Join a group of 90 software engineers using the latest technologies to solve the hardest problems for our nation. We are seeking a senior software engineer to design, build, and deploy scalable data pipelines and analytics/machine learning solutions.

Critical Technologies

• Programming & Scripting - Python, C#, GO, Rust, Java, Scala
• Compute – IoT/ICS, Linux, Fargate/EC2, ECS/Docker, EKS/Kubernetes, EMR
• Development – Git/Gitlab, Agile, Atlassian, CDK, CI/CD, DevOps, IDE
• Data and Storage – S3, Athena, Postgres, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Dynamo, Redshift, MongoDB
• Pipelines – IAM, Cognito, Nifi, Airflow, Dagster, Spark, Lambda, Beats, Splunk
• Analytics – Dask, Numpy & Pandas, DataBricks, SageMaker, Tensorflow/Keras, PySpark

National Interest Project Examples

• Detect and prevent smuggling of drugs and contraband at ports of entry [Link]
• Develop large data pipelines to thwart funding for terrorists, nuclear proliferators, drug cartels, and rogue leaders [Link]
• Applying big data solutions to national security problems [Link]
• Applying image classification for nuclear forensics analysis [Link]
• Detect and respond to advanced cyber threats with at-edge computing [Link]
• Develop capabilities for scalable geospatial analytics [Link]
• Use remotely sensed imagery to identify and monitor the progression of wildfires [Link]
• Analyze the resiliency of the electric power grid to prevent large-scale outages [Link]
• Optimize building efficiency using IOT and ICS data with automated demand-response markets [Link]
• Model climate change and impacts to civilization [Link]
• Hunt for the existence of dark matter to understand the nature of the universe [Link]

Data Complexities

• Volume – large, we work with terabytes and petabytes
• Variety – Images, audio, text, IoT, RF, GPS, edge sensors
• Velocity – Sub-second and lower frequency

How We Work

• Diverse and flexible projects – Flexibility to choose and move between projects
• Agile development environment – Scrum meetings, standups, demos, and retrospectives
• Partners – Work with government, academic, industry, and other partners to solve problems
• Locations – Seattle, WA; Richland, WA; Washington, DC
• Team Sizes – Typically around 5-10 members, although projects can be more than 100 or just a few members
• Team Compositions – Our teams include cloud engineers, machine learning engineers, data scientists/domain experts, UI/UX designers, front-end developers, scrums masters, product owners, and most importantly, users

A day in the life of a software engineer at PNNL might involve exploring new scientific data and creating robust datasets.  You will create data pipelines to store in large databases, feed to AI/ML and create new data analysis tools to tackle national level problems.  You will work with Cloud engineers to deploy to AWS and Azure, ML researchers to develop production ready models, and analysts to extract new features and derive new insights.  You will hit a sprint demo to show off your biweekly progress and then call it a day. All along you will know that your deployment answered a critical national security problem, something that might have been discussed on the evening news.

Missing some of these skills or experiences? That’s okay. If you have relevant technical expertise, are highly driven, and are very motivated to learn these technologies and tackle these domain problems, let’s talk.

Responsibilities

• Identify mission challenges and formulate engineering solutions methodically
• Embrace software engineering excellence and delivering quality results at scale
• Employ expertise with a high-level programming language such as Python / C#
• Apply good design and innovative problem-solving skills to solve challenging technical problems
• Initiate personal direction and goals
• Demonstrate outstanding verbal and written communication skills and the ability to work in a collaborative environment
• Be passionate and self-motivated with good time management skills

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS/BA and 5+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
• MS/MA and 3+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
• PhD with 1+ year of relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Degree in computer science, software engineering, or related field
• Active TS or Q security clearance and the ability to maintain such a clearance

Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment

Not applicable.

Additional Information

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.

Requirements:

• U.S. Citizenship
• Background Investigation: Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
• Drug Testing: All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the candidate selected is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).

Note: Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy until non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months can be demonstrated.

“Referral Eligible”

Testing Designated Position

This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.

About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven people come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!

At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, flexible work schedules and telework options. PNNL is located in eastern Washington State—the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living. The Lab’s campus is only a 45-minute flight (or ~3-hour drive) from Seattle or Portland, and is serviced by the convenient PSC airport, connected to 8 major hubs.

Commitment to Excellence, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Opportunity

Our laboratory is committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment dedicated to solving critical challenges in fundamental sciences, national security, and energy resiliency. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. In support of this commitment, we encourage people of all racial/ethnic identities, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities to apply for employment.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), protected veteran status, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local laws.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures and in employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, contact us at careers@pnnl.gov.