Lead large-scale physical test events and instrumentation validation for underground facility defeat systems at Kirtland AFB, bridging experimental data with predictive modeling to characterize weapons effects and CBRN propagation in hardened, deeply buried targets for DTRA.
What you'll do
- Lead end-to-end planning, safety coordination, and execution of high-hazard physical test events measuring structural defeat, tunnel collapse, weapon penetration, and internal blast effects within complex underground environments
- Design and deploy instrumentation arrays to capture high-fidelity empirical data for validating and calibrating HPAC and VLSTRACK predictive modeling baselines
- Oversee experimental methodologies measuring CBRN agent transport, toxic propagation, and source-term generation using chemical/biological simulants in struck underground environments
- Direct testing of integrated sensor networks, data links, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) assets during live-field exercises
- Author comprehensive Test and Evaluation Master Plans (TEMPs), safety packages, and test reports supporting rigorous VV&A frameworks
- Synthesize empirical datasets from kinetic field tests with physics-based simulations to conduct trade studies and optimize survivability metrics
- Mentor junior to mid-level test engineers and field technicians while establishing rigorous engineering and range safety best practices
Mission
This role directly supports the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) mission to characterize, validate, and optimize Joint Force capabilities for defeating underground facilities (UGFs) and hardened deeply buried targets (HDBTs). Testing occurs at regional facilities including White Sands Missile Range and involves collaboration with combatant commands and international defense partners on critical national security vulnerabilities.
Required skills
- Test & Evaluation (T&E) planning and execution
- Blast effects and structural analysis
- HPAC and VLSTRACK modeling tools
- Underground Facility (UGF) characterization
- High-fidelity instrumentation and data acquisition
- CBRN agent transport and propagation analysis
- DoD 5000-series systems engineering lifecycle
- Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A)
- Physics-based simulation and empirical data fusion
- Technical documentation and safety protocols