Engineering Scientist Associate

Job Posting Title:

Engineering Scientist Associate

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Hiring Department:

Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Jan 10, 2026

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Location:

PICKLE RESEARCH CAMPUS

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Job Details:

General Notes

Applications are invited for multiple scientist associate positions with a focus on nuclear reactor analysis in support of the design, licensing, and/or operation of a molten salt research reactor with integrated digital twin technologies. This position is in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering program in collaboration with the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. The positions are designed to advance multiphysics nuclear energy research associated with molten salt reactors through the use of leadership class computing facilities at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and through integration with experimental systems.

Purpose

This research will support the Digital Molten Salt Reactor Initiative to develop high-fidelity mulitphysics software for modeling molten salt reactors and to develop digital twin technologies for molten salt systems and the UT nuclear reactor. The successful applicant(s) will be tasked with some or all of the following: (1) neutronics analyses of the molten salt reactors, (2) computational fluid-dynamics and engineering-scale multiphysics simulation of molten salt flow loops, (3) development of reduced-order models from high-fidelity simulations using machine learning, and (4) data analytics of measured data to enable automation of software validation processes through the use of artificial intelligence agents.

Responsibilities

The position responsibilities include computational nuclear analysis using established software on desktop to supercomputing hardware. Qualified candidates may be eligible to apply to graduate school after one year of employment. This is a full-time position located in Austin Texas on either the main campus on the JJ Pickle Research Campus. The responsibilities will vary based on applicants qualifications and professional development. This is currently listed as a temporary position that will expire in August 2027, but may be eligible for extensions based on funding and performance evaluations. Performance will be evaluated based on metrics (publications, presentations), contributions to the research initiative, and peer reviews.

Required Qualifications

• US citizenship is required due to the potential need for modification of source code in Export Controlled software, such as SCALE or VERA.

• A BS in nuclear or mechanical engineering, or related field that was completed no earlier than December 2024; and

• Experience with SCALE, VERA, Serpent, OpenMC, and/or MCNP.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with methods and software development for conjugate heat transfer, computational chemistry, or system dynamics and controls

• Experience using modern software development practices, facilities, object-oriented programming.

Salary Range

$75,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• Work in an academic research environment.

• Working in lab environment.

• May work in field environments.

• Use of manual dexterity.

• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.

Required Materials

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)

• 3 work references with their contact information

• Letter of interest addressed to Dr. Clarno that includes a 100-200 word narrative of experience with nuclear analysis software and contact information for two academic and/or professional references

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer , complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractors legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The universitys company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English) [PDF]
• E-Verify Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031 .

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.