Group Manager

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, is the nation's primary laboratory for research, development, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. This Group Manager (GM) position will lead the Technology Scaleup and Piloting Operations (TS&PO) Group within NREL's Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup (CCTS) Center of the Bioenergy Science and Technology (BEST) Directorate. The successful candidate will lead the TS&PO group of engineers, technologist, technicians, and administrative professionals working to operate and maintain the CCTS Center’s pilot plants and other large-scale equipment systems.

The CCTS Center has a multitude of thermochemical and biochemical technology bench scale technology demonstration and scaleup facilities. The CCTS center also has two sophisticated integrated pilot plants for conducting r&d on conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks, including woody biomass, agricultural wastes, municipal solid waste, and other unconventional renewable resources using thermochemical and biochemical pathways. The Thermal and Catalytic Process Development Unit is housed in a 4,000 ft2 high bay and is used to test biomass pyrolysis and gasification technologies at pilot scale. The 27,000 ft2 Biochemical Pilot Plant is housed in the Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility and performs pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial conversion, and downstream processing of various feedstocks at pilot scale. The IBRF pilot plant is undergoing a ~$40M revitalization to take it to a state of the art TRL 5/6 plug-and-play pilot plant.

These pilot scale facilities once renovated will provide cutting edge piloting capabilities as follows:

• Technology risk-based scale, flexible, plug-and-play fully integrated pilot plants that operate with processing real world feedstock to final product production capabilities (TRL -5/6).
• Designed in a manner that accommodates rapid turnaround times (less than 30 days).
• Designed to provide rigorous material and carbon closures and leading analytical capabilities to allow piloted technologies to transcend multiple orders of scales at acceptable technical risk on the path towards commercialization.
• The pilot plants will be designed to facilitate “smart” piloting to synergize experimental pilot plant runs with advanced computational techniques such as kinetic modeling, computational fluid dynamics, edge computing and machine learning techniques to maximize the rigors and technical understanding of the technology being piloted.

The GM will serve as strategic lead for the TS&PO Group which entails setting a strategic direction for the group and accomplishing this strategic direction. They will also provide high level oversight for safe operations within the Group and management of associated processes and documentation needed to ensure safe and consistent operations. The TS&PO GM will be responsible for having an active role in business development efforts and interactions with internal and external customers using the facilities.

Candidates must have demonstrated experience in the various aspects of technology scale-up and pilot plant operations including equipment design and plant operations and upkeep. Experience in thermochemical and biochemical processes for biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals is highly desirable. The GM will be expected to apply these skills to technical operations, project management, strategic planning, and the advancement of a safe and secure work environment. In their role, the GM will recruit and retain outstanding talent, provide mentorship, guidance, and career development to group members, support a diverse workforce, provide strategic direction for business and capability development, and lead the execution of bioeconomy technology scale-up and piloting projects for both internal and external clients.

The GM will lead and maintain a culture of safety as a core value in their group. This will require the quick establishment of a deep knowledge of all relevant NREL safety procedures and processes as well as an awareness of all hazards to which their direct reports are exposed to. They also need a good understanding all aspects of safety practices and procedures employed in the chemical process industries.

What to expect:

• The GM will lead a group of 20-45 engineering and plant operations professionals postdoctoral researchers, and student interns.
• Strategically leverage advanced experimental, engineering and computational techniques among the team to maximize the research team's capabilities to deploy and execute impactful research.
• Lead the team to advance the technical research capabilities with effective project management, strategic planning, and the advancement of a safe and secure work environment.
• Recruit and retain outstanding talent, provide mentorship, guidance, and career development to group members while supporting a diverse workforce.
• Provide strategic direction for business and capability development, and contribute to proposal development for a large range of sponsors, particularly the Department of Energy/EERE-BETO and other EERE programs, Office of Science, Department of Defense, and industry.
• Expand existing research development portfolio with new business development and industry stakeholder engagement.
• Work closely with the CCTS Center leadership as well as the leadership in the BEST Directorate to identify and help develop new capabilities and steward existing capabilities.
• Ensure that the Science and Scale-up Group remains modern and relevant to the activities of the CCTS center and other Directorates at NREL.
• Lead and maintain a culture of safety as a core value in their group with deep knowledge of all relevant NREL safety procedures and processes as well as an awareness of all hazards to which their direct reports are exposed.
• Manage legal and ethical issues within a team of professionals.

Bachelor’s Degree and 9-years’ experience in technically related research discipline in appropriate engineering or science field is required. Or, Master’s Degree and 7-years’ experience in technically related research discipline in appropriate engineering or science field is required. Or, PhD and 4-years’ experience in appropriate engineering or science field is required. Previous technical management and project management experience required.

Group Manager II Level Requirements:

• Previous experience in project or personnel management including budget development and/or demonstrated leadership in an individual contributor role.
• Research background and foundation in chemical/biochemical and catalytic sciences (chemical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, materials science, or physics).
• Demonstrated independent research during their career in thermochemical and/or biochemical biomass conversion as well as technology scale-up expertise.
• Strong track record of high-quality peer-reviewed publications, successful research proposals, and time spent in project and personnel management.
• Demonstrated ability to write compelling scientific research proposals.
• Ability to manage legal and ethical issues within a team of professionals.
• Ability to mentor and coach regular staff, postdoctoral scientists, and interns.
• Current and in-depth knowledge of the newest technologies for biomass and waste carbon process development.
• Demonstrated skill in interpreting and assessing the experimental results of their own work and that of others.
• Excellent organization, project management, budgeting, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Proven problem-solving and negotiation skills.
• Ability to collaborate with individuals at all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead and direct personnel with diverse skills, work styles and values, both directly and through subordinate management.
• Demonstrated ability to make appropriate decisions regarding work activities and projects.
• Proven track record of business development and healthy pipeline of projects and funding.
• Desire to engage with industry partners and build strategic external relationships for future R&D opportunities.
• Proven ability to leverage internal resources - finance department, communications team, HR members and support staff.

Group Manager III Level Requirements:

• All the above, plus . . .
• Advanced Masters or PhD degree.
• Formal personnel management experience with direct reports.
• Known in the research community as a technical resource and expert both internally and externally, especially in catalytic and biochemical process development and the recycle of carbon.

• Full knowledge of other related disciplines in the CCTS Center as well as the BEST directorate.
• Strong record of publications/presentations in areas relevant to catalytic process development research.
• The technology scale-up experience should include aspects of advanced experimental, engineering and computational techniques.
• Formal personnel management experience with direct reports.
• Demonstrates leadership in several areas of team, task, capability or project.
• Demonstrated experience in project management.

The anticipated closing window for application submission is up to 30 days and may be extended as needed.