Chief Research Officer

Summary

Department of Energy's Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office - National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is looking for a dynamic, innovative executive to serve as its Chief Research Officer responsible for providing strategic executive leadership in developing maturing technology solutions for hydrocarbons, geothermal energy, critical minerals production, providing unbiased, transparent and decision-informed technical insights, in alignment with national priorities and industry needs.

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Duties

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As the Chief Research Officer, you will:

• Provide executive strategic leadership to, the NETL Research and Innovation Center (RIC). The RIC develops and matures technology solutions, and provides unbiased, transparent, and decision informed technical insights supporting DOE goals aligned with national priorities and industry needs.
• Provide executive strategy, management, and oversight of the Laboratory's Centers of Excellence in Coal, Oil and Gas, Geothermal, and Critical Minerals and Advanced Alloys, which serve as the cornerstone of NETL's research program focused on addressing industry challenges.
• Lead and oversee the development of strategic science and technology (S&T) planning efforts, including the NETL strategic plan and the laboratory plan, which involves identifying future S&T competencies and capabilities required for mission readiness and responsiveness to industry needs, in close collaboration with the NETL Director and NETL Principal Deputy Director (PDD).
• Determine and advocate for the financial and personnel resources necessary to achieve mission objectives, including identifying needs for major organizational improvements.
• Support budgetary planning activities, ensuring program scope is consistent with available funds and capabilities. The CRO evaluates R&D programs, reallocating material and human resources among various Centers of Excellence, programs, or R&D projects to meet mission needs, and assesses resource utilization to eliminate marginal activities and redirect R&D programs as required by technical advancements and changes in DOE and HGEO goals.
• Develop and implement strategic partnership efforts to accelerate progress towards the goals of the Centers of Excellence. This encompasses developing integrated strategic and engagement plans for partnerships with industry, universities, other national laboratories, and global, federal, state, and local partners.
• Works closely with the laboratory's Executive Leadership on staffing, policies, and personnel authorities, including the recruitment of senior managers and technical experts necessary to ensure the success of the Centers of Excellence. The incumbent makes recommendations for key personnel appointments and NETL representatives on high-level committees, boards, and panels.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Subject to a 1-year supervisory probationary period (unless already completed).
• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
• May be subject to pre-employment and random drug tests.
• File a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report OGE-278 within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
• You may be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• This position is full-time in the office. In rare instances, situational telework may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

There are three key documents that contain important information about your rights and obligations. Please read and retain these documents:

• Noncriminal Justice Applicant's Privacy Rights, for those who undergo an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history record check for personnel vetting, which includes Rap Back,
• FD-258 Privacy Act Statement - FBI (this is the same statement used when your fingerprints are submitted as part of your background investigation), and
• SEAD-3-Reporting-U.pdf (dni.gov), (applicable to those who hold a sensitive position or have eligibility for access to classified information)

Qualifications

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.

APPLICANTS MUST MEET ALL OF THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITION.

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, you must show that you possess the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQ) and Technical Qualifications (TQ) related to this position within your resume - NOT TO EXCEED 2 PAGES . Resumes over the 2-page limit, will not be reviewed beyond page 2 or may be disqualified. Your resume should include examples of experience, education, and accomplishments applicable to the qualification(s). If your resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of these qualifications, you may not receive consideration for the position.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs) : Your resume should demonstrate accomplishments that would satisfy the technical qualifications.

TQ 1 : Executive Leadership of Applied R&D Portfolios and Technology Maturation.

Demonstrated executive-level experience in directing, managing, and evaluating a complex, multi-disciplinary applied research and development portfolio. This includes establishing strategic research priorities and defining and executing on long-term applied research vision that aligns scientific capabilities with national priorities and commercial utility.

TQ 2 : Strategic Industry Engagement, Technology Transfer, and Commercialization.

Demonstrated executive-level experience in cultivating strategic industrial partnerships, driving technology transfer, and establishing collaborative public-private structures. This includes structuring complex transactional agreements, building industry-led consortia to pull laboratory innovations to solve real world industrial problems, and establishing IP frameworks and data-sharing protocols that protect proprietary industry partner data and interests.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): In addition to the Technical Qualification Requirements listed above, all new entrants into the Senior Executive Service (SES) under a career appointment will be assessed for executive competency against the following five mandatory ECQs. If your 2-page resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of the ECQs and TQs, you may not receive further consideration for the position.

There are five ECQs:

• ECQ 1: Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Principles of the American Founding - This core qualification requires a demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government, commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and commitment to serve the American people.
• ECQ 2: Driving Efficiency - This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades.
• ECQ 3: Merit and Competence - This core qualification involves the demonstrated knowledge, ability and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality.
• ECQ 4: Leading People - This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and to drive a high-performance, high-accountability culture. This includes, when necessary, the ability to lead people through change and to hold individuals accountable.
• ECQ 5: Achieving Results - This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to stated goals from superiors.

Note: If you are a member of the SES or have been certified through successful participation in an OPM approved SES Candidate Development Program (SESCDP), or have SES reinstatement eligibility, you do not need to respond to the ECQs. Instead, you should attach proof (e.g., SF-50, Certification by OPM's SES Qualifications Review Board (QRB)) of your eligibility for noncompetitive appointment to the SES.

Education

In addition to meeting the qualifications listed above, applicant must also meet the education requirements listed below.

This position has a positive education requirement. Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

Basic Education Requirement for the 0801 Series

Degree : Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

Combination of education and experience college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

Professional registration or licensure Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.

Written Test Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Specified academic courses Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements section above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described above.

Related curriculum Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.)

Basic Education Requirement for the 1301 Series

Degree : physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

OR

Combination of education and experience education equivalent to one of the majors shown in above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

If you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.

Foreign Education : If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov)

This vacancy has a positive education requirement. You must submit unofficial or official copies of your college transcripts that shows list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter or semester hours earned. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".

Additional information

Veterans Preference: Veterans' preference is not applicable to the SES.

Mobility: Organizational and geographical mobility is essential in developing and managing SES leaders. Individuals selected for SES positions members may be subject to reassignment across geographical, organizational, and functional lines, and may be required to sign a Reassignment Rights and Obligation Agreement.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy Statement :

Employment Information Resources - Resource Center :

Males born after 12-31-1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.