Working at NNSA

Whether you're a student seeking to learn more about a future career, just starting out, mid-career or an experienced executive, NNSA may have the right opportunity for you! Learn more about NNSA, the Nuclear Security Enterprise, and the opportunities for you.

All job listings for NNSA are listed on USAJobs. There you’ll learn what positions are available and where they are offered – NNSA has positions at locations nationwide.

Start your NNSA job search at USAJobs.

NNSA is run from headquarters buildings spread over three sites: the Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C., home of the Department of Energy; the department's Germantown Building in Germantown, Maryland; and the Albuquerque Complex at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In addition, NNSA oversees its contractor-operated national laboratories, production plants, and test and experiment facilities through field offices that are mostly co-located with the facilities they supervise. The field offices are responsible for ensuring compliance with federal contracts to manage and operate the national security assets located in California, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

JOB LINKS WITHIN THE NUCLEAR SECURITY ENTERPRISE

• Kansas City National Security Campus, Missouri
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
• Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
• National Nuclear Security Administration, Nationwide
• Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Pennsylvania, New York, and Idaho
• Nevada National Security Site, Nevada
• Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas
• Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California
• Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina
• Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

NNSA operates an alternative pay system designed to attract and retain the best and brightest workers in the national security field. Known as "pay-banding," this pay system focuses on pay-for-performance rather than increases based on longevity.

The pay system collapses the traditional 15 General Schedule pay grades into broad pay bands. It features comprehensive career paths covering professional, technical, administrative, and support occupations with three or four pay bands in each career path.

The system allows NNSA managers to set higher pay for their employees through appointments, promotions, and performance evaluations. The goal is to improve recruitment efforts and motivate and retain key employees through faster pay progression for high-performing employees.

Base pay levels as of January 2024.

NNSA positions are divided into four career paths:

• Engineering and Scientific Career Path (NN) - All professional positions in the GS-800 engineering family and GS-1300 physical sciences family.
• Professional, Technical, and Administrative Career Path (NQ) - All OPM-recognized professional occupations (except GS-800 engineers and GS-1300 physical scientists) requiring positive education requirements, and all other subject-matter, business, and administrative occupations characterized by a traditional two-grade interval pattern of grade progression (i.e., GS-5/7/9/11).
• Nuclear Materials Courier Career Path (NV) - All positions in the GS-084 job series.
• Technician and Administrative Support Career Path (NU) - All technician, secretarial, assistant, and clerical occupations, and similar positions characterized by a traditional one-grade interval pattern of grade progression (i.e., GS-5/6/7/8).

A closer look at how NNSA's pay system compares to the General Schedule, including locality pay tables.

NNSA employees are entitled to Federal benefits, including health insurance, paid leave, and retirement.

Learn more at the Office of Personnel Management site.

FEDERAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO WORK AT NNSA

NNSA offers a variety of ways for students to work at NNSA.

• NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program: Graduate students are selected fill a position in an NNSA program office. 
• Pathways: This government-wide program offers internships for high school through post-graduate students.
• Legal Internship Program: An year-round general counsel internship program. 
• Military Academy Collaboration: A program for cadets, midshipmen, and faculty who are assigned to one of eight Nuclear Security Enterprise locations.
• Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program: A pipeline between DOE/NNSA's labs, plants, and sites and minority-serving institutions.

STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNIVERSITIES

NNSA has a variety of programs for students and principal investigators to take on our most pressing scientific and technical challenges in the military application of nuclear science and strengthen and enhance our nation’s security.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AT NNSA'S PLANTS, LABS, AND SITES

NNSA's management and operating (M&O) partners -- which run its plants, labs, and sites from coast to coast -- run programs for students to gain experience in the Nuclear Security Enterprise and perhaps launch a career. Here are links to each site's student opportunities.

• Kansas City National Security Campus
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Naval National Laboratory
• Nevada National Security Site
• Pantex Plant
• Sandia National Laboratories
• Savannah River Site
• Y-12 National Security Complex