Senior Nuclear Safety Manager

The Opportunity

SRNL is one of the Department of Energy's premier national laboratories, delivering solutions critical to national security, nuclear materials management, and environmental stewardship. We are seeking a proven nuclear safety leader to serve as the Laboratory's institutional authority for nuclear safety programs.

This is not a back-office compliance role. You will sit at the leadership table, advise senior laboratory executives, serve as the primary voice to DOE/NNSA on nuclear safety matters, and directly influence the Laboratory's ability to execute high-consequence nuclear missions. If you've ever wanted a role where your technical judgment and leadership truly matter, this is it.

A Mission Portfolio That's Growing

SRNL's mission is expanding across some of the most consequential challenges in the nuclear enterprise:

• Fusion Fuel Cycle Innovation — pioneering the science and safety frameworks for next-generation fusion fuel technologies
• Nuclear Deterrence & Nonproliferation — delivering solutions that directly support the nation's nuclear security posture
• Accelerated Plutonium Disposition — driving breakthroughs like H-Canyon glass-loading analysis that have already compressed disposition timelines by approximately two years, a major schedule acceleration for the Fast Critical Assembly Mission
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle & Isotopes — expanding the Laboratory's role in nuclear materials processing and isotope production
• Campus Modernization — advancing new infrastructure to support long-term growth, including new facilities that will require safety basis development from the ground up
• AI-Driven Innovation — including a $1.75M DOE "Mine of the Future" project and new CRADA partnerships applying artificial intelligence to accelerate research and decision-making
• Grid Resilience — growing the Laboratory's impact beyond traditional nuclear missions
• Environmental Cleanup & Restoration — applying cutting-edge tools including AI to one of the nation's most complex environmental challenges
  

This isn't a role where you maintain a static set of safety documents. You'll be developing new safety bases, solving first-of-a-kind nuclear safety challenges, guiding new facilities through startup, and shaping the safety posture of programs that don't fully exist yet. If you want to be challenged — and to build something that matters — this is where you need to be.

Why SRNL? Why This Role?

• Real Impact: Safeguard operations across Hazard Category 2 and 3 nuclear facilities supporting critical national security missions
• Institutional Authority: You own the nuclear safety programs — Safety Basis, Criticality Safety, and Nuclear Readiness & Startup
• Seat at the Table: Report directly to the Engineering Director/Chief Engineer with direct access to senior laboratory and federal leadership
• Dynamic Mission: Support a rapidly expanding portfolio spanning nuclear deterrence, fusion fuel cycles, plutonium disposition, isotope production, and campus modernization
• Career Stability: National laboratory employment with long-term mission permanence — no contract recompetes, no program uncertainty
• Build a Legacy: Mentor and develop the next generation of nuclear safety professionals
• Mission That Matters: Your work directly protects workers, the public, and the environment while enabling science and national security