R&d Computer Scientist 2

What You Will Do

Come join the brightest minds at the most innovative R&D facility supporting our national security! The Applied Computer Science Group (CAI-1) is looking for Computer Science Researchers interested in bringing new ideas and enthusiasm to tackle interesting and challenging problems in support of both contemporary and emerging processor architectures across a variety of application domains. Our scientists and software engineers research and develop computational methods and software for large-scale, high-performance multi-physics applications. These applications are routinely run on the largest high-performance computing (HPC) systems in the world! Our work is often done in collaboration with academia and industry as well as collaborators across the broader Department of Energy community.

CAI-1 is part of the Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI) Division which is a vibrant scientific research and development organization that works in multiple mission areas of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The division focuses on research and development in artificial intelligence, fundamental computer science, computational physics, algorithms, high-performance computing, quantum computing, statistics, and applied mathematics.

What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements:

Programming Experience: Demonstrable experience with intermediate to advanced C/C++ and CUDA programming and using other high-level programming and scripting languages (e.g., Bash, Lua, Python, or similar). Fundamental awareness of algorithm analysis techniques as well as debugging techniques and a basic understanding of code performance analysis. A basic understanding of parallel programming, including those focused on supporting parallel architectures such as multi-core CPUs, GPUs or FPGAs. Basic familiarity with HPC programming environment and hardware. Familiarity with parallel discrete event simulations (PDES) and AI models, including distributed agentic LLM/AI.

Systems: Experience in Unix/Linux-based software development environments.

Teamwork: Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a technically diverse team.

Presentations: Good oral and written communication skills and the ability to present the results from research and development activities at conferences, workshops, and meetings.

Education/Experience: Positions require a bachelor's degree in a STEM field from an accredited college and university and 4 years of related experience, typically with post-doctoral research experience at a university or national lab or equivalent experience directly related to the occupation.

Candidates with a PhD in a relevant field such as Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or similar are preferred.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience developing parallel and distributed memory runtime systems, algorithms, or tools for systems with heterogeneous architectures and complex memory hierarchies.
• Awareness of the effect of low-level architecture and software layers on code performance (e.g., page faults, NUMA memory access patterns, etc.), and the complexity associated with providing a productive software development environment.
• Experience with hardware simulation or emulation (gem5, sniper, qemu, etc.).
• Experience developing parallel discrete event simulations (PDES) at scale and integrating LLM/AI agentic applications over PDES for extreme scale agent-based modeling (ABM).
• Experience with modern LLM and AI models, in particular demonstrated ability in modifying LLM architectures to implement novel quantization methods.

Work Location: This position will be located in Los Alamos with the potential for hybrid or remote work. Hybrid and remote work options are at the discretion of management and can change at any time with appropriate notice.

Position commitment: Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year.

Note to Applicants: Applicants must submit a CV and a cover letter detailing how they meet the minimum requirements and the desired skills for this position.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Where You Will Work

Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:

§ PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network

§ Dental and vision insurance

§ Free basic life and disability insurance

§ Paid childbirth and parental leave

§ Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)

§ Learning opportunities and tuition assistance

§ Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)

§ Onsite gyms and wellness programs

§ Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)

Additional Details

Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.

No Clearance: Position does not require a security clearance. Selected candidates will be subject to drug testing and other pre-employment background checks.

New-Employment Drug Test: The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.

Regular position: Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular-status positions are converted to regular status.

Internal Applicants: Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.

Equal Opportunity: Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to applyhelp@lanl.gov or call (505)-664-6947.