About the Future Leaders Program

The NNSA is looking for you as the next generation of our leadership. The objective of the Future Leaders Program (FLP) is to develop competent professionals to ultimately manage programs and projects within the NNSA, including managing national defense weapons related programs at both nuclear and non-nuclear facilities while helping to strengthen national security.

Collage of images of a young man, a young woman, and a man and woman in a laboratory

The FLP Program provides experiences that will build and strengthen your technical knowledge as you apply theory to real world problems in actual work situations. To get a feel for these experiences, take a minute and listen to the Future Leaders testimonials, which are located under the Examine tab or read through the Rotational Examples, also located under the Examine tab.

During the two year program, you will choose 60 and 30 day rotations that will require participants to travel in order to obtain a broad knowledge of NNSA facilities nationwide. For your 60 day rotation, if your home office is at Headquarters, Washington, DC, you will work in a field office. If your home office is in a field office, your 60 day assignment will be served at Headquarters. For example, if your home office is in Washington, D.C you may travel to the Albuquerque, NM site for your 60 day rotation

While participating in the Future Leader Program, you will be involved in an aggressive internal training program that will provide you the essential tools needed to have a successful career in the NNSA. One of the ways the FLP Program helps you develop these skills is through a top-of-the-line mentoring program. The mentoring program will assign you a peer mentor, who is a member of the FLP program, and a mentor that is a NNSA veteran employee.

Peer Mentors

As an FLP participant, you have the unique opportunity to be assigned at least one "peer mentor". This person is a current FLP participant who has had at least one year of service and is located at your home office. FLP participants will be assigned their peer mentor prior to beginning at their duty location. Your peer mentor can answer any questions that may arise during or after the hiring process is complete. Once you arrive at your duty station, your peer mentor can be used as a guide to navigate the NNSA.

Mentors

While being part of the FLP Program, you will receive a large amount of on-the-job guidance within your chosen career field. In addition to your peer mentor, you will also be assigned a professional mentor that is located at your home office. Your mentor is an experienced NNSA professional who will invest time and effort into enhancing your growth and development by explaining the NNSA’s missions and promoting success in your career and job performance. An enormous number of high ranking NNSA veteran employees have volunteered to become mentors, so as an FLP participant, you may have more than one!

Some of the duties of Mentors in the FLP Mentoring program are:

Counsels the FLP participant on his/her career development
Recommends rotational assignments or potential shadowing assignments
Provides coaching and feedback to participant

Upon Graduating from the Future Leaders Program, participates are expected to begin their first permanent assignment at their home office.