Freelance Developer Operations Engineer Jobs in Athens, TN

At BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT), we are People Strong, Innovation Driven. A U.S.-based company, BWXT is a Fortune 1000 and Defense News Top 100 manufacturing and engineering innovator that provides safe and effective nuclear solutions for global security, clean energy, environmental restoration, nuclear medicine and space exploration. With more than 7,800 employees, BWXT has 14 major operating sites in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. We are the sole manufacturer of naval nuclear reactors for U.S. submarines and aircraft carriers. Our company supplies precision manufactured components, services and fuel for the commercial nuclear power industry across four continents. Our joint ventures provide environmental restoration and operations management at a dozen U.S. Department of Energy and NASA facilities. BWXT's technology is driving advances in medical radioisotope production in North America and microreactors for various defense and space applications. For more information, visit www.bwxt.com . Follow us on LinkedIn , X , Facebook and Instagram .
BWXT is currently seeking a Systems Engineer for its Enrichment Operations location in Oak Ridge, TN!
BWXT is People Strong, Innovation Driven - be part of BWXT's innovation hub. BWXT's Enrichment Operations (EO) in Oak Ridge focus on the engineering, fabrication, and testing of advanced gas centrifuge machines. This site accelerates next-generation technology from development to production readiness, supporting the national mission to restore a domestic uranium enrichment supply chain for US defense and naval nuclear propulsion.
The Systems Engineer provides technical leadership, engineering oversight, and system-level integration support for Enrichment Operations facilities and processes. This role ensures system performance, reliability, safety, and regulatory compliance through the full lifecycle of assigned systems. The Systems Engineer partners with operations, maintenance, project management, and regulatory teams to deliver engineering solutions supporting mission-critical enrichment activities. The position combines analytical engineering rigor with strong cross-functional collaboration to ensure the safe and efficient operation of complex technical systems.
If you are looking for a career where your experience is valued, innovative thinking is fostered, and barrier-free teamwork is embraced every day, then this opportunity is for you. The position will be located in the Oak Ridge, TN, Enrichment Operations office.
Job Description / Duties:

• Analyze stakeholder needs; derive, decompose, and allocate requirements to system/subsystem levels; maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the lifecycle.
• Develop conceptual and detailed system architectures; define interfaces, control logic, and data flows.
• Execute trade studies supporting architecture decisions on performance, reliability, cost, and safety.
• Support the production of system description documents, interface definitions, schematics, and design inputs for production.
• Support the development of test plans/procedures; define verification methods; support HWIL, subsystem, and system-level testing.
• Lead or support SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR reviews.
• Apply configuration management and software/firmware version control best practices.
• Collaborate across disciplines like instrumentation & controls, mechanical/composites, materials, software, test, manufacturing, and quality teams.
• Support proposal development and technical briefings.
• Travel as needed (<10%).

Job Qualifications / Requirements:

• Bachelor's or Master's in Aerospace, Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical, or related engineering discipline.
• 15 years of systems engineering experience in defense, DOE, nuclear, or national security programs.
• Active DOE Q or DoD Top Secret (TS) clearance (required).
• Proficiency across the systems engineering lifecycle (requirements, architecture, integration, V&V, and test).
• Strong communication, analytical ability, and technical leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in engineering or related field.
• Experience applying SE concepts from design through manufacturing handoff, production planning, supplier integration, and production readiness reviews.
• Experience connecting PLM/MBSE ecosystems and establishing data traceability (e.g., Teamcenter, Windchill).
• Exposure to IoT/streaming frameworks (MQTT, Kafka, AWS IoT, Azure Digital Twins) for performance monitoring.
• Experience developing reduced-order models (ROMs) and hybrid physics-ML modeling approaches.
• Ability to collaborate with data scientists and translate model outputs into system requirements.

#LI-CW1
Pay: $114,000 - $165,000
The base salary range for this position in Tennessee (US-TN) at the start of employment is expected to be between $114,000 and $165,000 per year. However, the base salary offered is based on local job market factors, and may vary further depending on factors specific to the selected job candidate, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to these considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, such as an annual cash incentive in addition to a full range of medical, retirement, and/or other benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided at such time the selected job candidate receives an offer of employment. If hired, the selected job candidate will be employed 'at-will,' unless employed at a location and in a position subject to a collective bargaining agreement. The company further reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment, compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and other market factors.
As a federal government contractor, BWX Technologies, Inc. and any subsidiaries, affiliates and related entities ("BWXT" or the "Company") complies with all federal, state, and local laws and customer requirements regarding health and safety protocols. As such, all BWXT new hires will be required to adhere to applicable Company health and safety requirements within the workplace as a condition of employment.
All candidates must be U.S. citizens. Selected applicants are required to successfully complete a pre-employment check and drug screening. In addition, the position may require the ability to obtain and maintain applicable federal eligibility requirements for access to classified/sensitive information or matter which involves an extensive criminal and financial background investigation, drug test, previous employment, and reference verifications.
BWXT is committed to the concept of Equal Employment Opportunity. We have established procedures to ensure that all personnel actions such as recruitment, compensation, career development, benefits, company-sponsored training and social recreational programs are administered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, protected veteran or other protected status.
BWX Technologies, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries (BWXT) is not responsible for and does not accept any liability for fees or other costs associated with resumes or candidates presented by recruiters or employment agencies, unless a binding, written recruitment agreement between BWXT and the recruiter or agency exists prior to the presentation of candidates or resumes to BWXT and includes the specific services, job openings, and fees to be paid ("Agreement"). BWXT may consider any candidate for whom a recruiter or agency has submitted an unsolicited resume and explicitly reserves the right to hire such candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency unless an Agreement is in place prior to presentation and such Agreement explicitly encompasses the job opening for which such fees or costs are sought. An email, verbal or other informal contact with any person within BWXT will not create a binding agreement. Agencies or recruiters without an Agreement are directed not to contact any hiring managers of BWXT with recruiting inquiries or resumes. Recruiters and agencies interested in partnering with BWXT may contact BWXT's Talent Acquisition team at talent_acquisition@bwxt.com. #LI-BT1
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