The Leidos Research Support Team supporting the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is seeking a Sensor Development Engineer to join our team in Pittsburgh, PA. This opportunity will allow side by side execution of research with world-class scientists and engineers using state of the art equipment to contribute to new areas of basic and applied research. The work will support the development of robust sensors capable of withstanding harsh environments and monitoring energy infrastructure. In this position, the researcher will have opportunities to publish in high-quality peer-reviewed journals, present at national and international conferences, and contribute to the development of new intellectual property. Regular project reporting will be required. Given the extensive interface with clients and collaborators, strong communication skills are essential.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Design and develop gas and chemical sensors with high sensitivity, selectivity, and robustness.
- Test, characterize, and optimize sensors and sensor testing systems. Optimize functionalized material properties to enhance sensor performance metrics.
- Conduct experimental testing to evaluate sensor performance under various environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, humidity).
- Develop highly sensitive and selective gas sensors with functional sensing materials such as nanocomposites or metal-organic framework (MOF)
- Conduct field tests to validate sensor performance in real-world sceneries, including pipelines, hydrogen storage, and other safety-critical environments.
- Analyze sensor data and refine sensor designs to meet stringent performance criteria.
- Collaborate with team members and develop new, crucial applications where sensors can be implemented
Requirements:
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field with 3 years of job-related experience.
- Hands-on experience in sensor development, particularly for gas and chemical detection.
- Experience with sensor fabrication and testing (ideally in harsh environments).
- Hands-on experience materials characterization experience (e.g. SEM/TEM, XPS, XRD).
- First authorship of posters/presentations at national conferences and/or peer-reviewed journal articles.
- Must be able to meet the requirements for gaining access to work on the NETL campus.
- U.S. Citizen
Preferred Qualifications:
- Prior experience working in a national lab.
- Demonstrated track record of publications and/or patents in sensing and/or fiber optics.
- Experience with Matlab and Ansys for sensor modeling.
- Knowledge of optical spectroscopy techniques including UV/Vis/Near-IR, ellipsometry, fluorescence, fiber coating, fiber Bragg gratings, interferometric sensing, optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR), optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR), Rayleigh and other backscatter phenomena
- Experience performing field tests to demonstrate sensor performance targets.
- Experience developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting experimental apparatus with programs like LabView.
- Experience in government lab settings collaborating with internal and external collaborators.
If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting:January 27, 2026
For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range:Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
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