Researcher – Battery R&D and Critical Minerals Research

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Working at NLR

Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NLR stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NLR, you'll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

Job Description

NLR's Battery Materials Group develops materials for battery applications and other critical mineral and material technologies. We are seeking a Researcher to support multiple projects focused on these topics. This Researcher should be a seasoned, experienced professional with the ability to develop advanced concepts, techniques, and standards for specialized, state-of-the-art technologies and concepts.

In this role, the successful candidate will be expected to develop skills in proposal development, leading projects, mentoring junior researchers, providing intellectual leadership, achieving external visibility, representing the laboratory to external partners and leading publications and/or other research products. The candidate will exhibit effective communication, interpersonal, project management and customer relations skills. They will be expected to develop solutions for an extensive and diverse range of complex problems that require the frequent use of creativity and where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of variable factors. They will also be expected to lead technical decision-making and direction at the project level. The successful candidate will be called upon to work independently with occasional guidance from senior staff to develop technical direction to multiple teams for organizational or business unit initiatives and/or new technology product line strategies, coordinate and monitor the work of others under their direct supervision. They should have the ability to develop into a role model for effective and creative research leadership within a center or directorate.

The successful candidate will be well-versed in the following:

• developing and executing experiments and experimental matrices
• synthesizing, processing, recycling, and/or coating materials
• performing materials characterization; fabricating electrodes from slurries
• fabricating electrochemical cells
• performing electrochemical testing
• analyzing complex electrochemical and materials characterization data from experiments
• writing programs to expedite experimental data analysis
• and independently writing papers and reports.

The successful candidate should be interested in working on a wide variety of projects for a wide variety of sponsors including industrial projects and national security and defense projects, where publishing may be limited.

The initial appointment is for 1 year with extension possible, provided mutual satisfaction and availability of funds.

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Basic Qualifications

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Degree in engineering, chemistry, materials science, or physics
• Experience fabricating and testing electrochemical cells including coin or pouch and three-electrode cells
• Experience conducting materials characterization for critical minerals/materials or battery materials
• Experience synthesizing, depositing, separating, or processing critical minerals/materials or battery materials
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with occasional/low supervision
• Demonstrated ability to process, plot, and interpret electrochemical data and materials characterization data
• Experience developing code to analyze electrochemical or materials characterization data (e.g., Python, Matlab, Igor Pro, etc.)
• Demonstrated teamwork, creativity, innovation, and adaptability
• Ability to attend conferences and present research to the scientific community
• Ability to work on and control sensitive and/or protected information
• Demonstrated ability and/or interest in working on applied industrial projects that may not always lead to external publishing
• Demonstrated ability and/or interest in working on projects supporting national security and defense that may not always lead to external publishing

Preferred Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have direct experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Experience synthesizing, processing, or coating lithium-ion battery materials (e.g., Si, LFP, NMC, graphite, LTO, LMO, S, etc.)
• Experience developing cells or other hardware solutions for custom experiments, such as in-situ or three-electrode electrochemical cells
• Demonstrated ability to develop critical material processing equipment and/or experience performing critical mineral processing or separations
• Demonstrated ability and interest in focusing on hands-on lab work and spending the majority of work time in the lab performing experiments and analyzing data
• Experience with designing or testing batteries for non-traditional applications (high power, ultra-safe, fast charge, low temp, etc.)
• Expertise in analytical electrochemistry and identifying degradation mechanisms
• Demonstrated ability to perform productive formal mentorship of interns, students, or research staff
• Experience with molecular dynamics modeling
• Experience working with reactive metal deposition
• Experience working with rare earth element processing
• Experience with water-in-salt, high-concentration, or hydrate-melt electrolytes

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Job Application Submission Window

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

Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)

NLR takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees. In compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Benefits Summary

* Based on eligibility rules

Badging Requirement

Drug Free Workplace

NLR is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug.

If you are offered employment at NLR, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may be withdrawn.

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NLR you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

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Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic partner status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Reasonable Accommodations

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About Us

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for critical minerals, energy innovation, and energy security. With locations in Golden and Boulder, Colorado, Fairbanks, Alaska, and a satellite office in Washington, D.C., NLR bridges foundational research with practical applications to develop and bring to scale new energy materials and technologies that lower energy costs, drive economic growth, and deliver abundant and reliable energy.

NLR is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All candidates must be authorized to access the facility per DOE rules and guidance within a reasonable time frame for the specified position in order to be considered for an interview and for hiring. DOE rules for site access during the interview process depend on whether the candidate is interviewed on-site, off-site, or via telephone or videoconference. All employees must also be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which includes a favorable background investigation. Additionally, DOE contractor employees are prohibited from participating in certain Foreign Government Talent Recruitment Programs (FGTRPs). If a candidate is currently participating in an FGTRP, they will be required to disclose their participation after receiving an offer of employment and may be required to disengage from participation in the FGTRP prior to commencing employment. Any offer of employment is conditional on the ability to obtain work authorization and to be granted access to NLR by the Department of Energy (DOE).

Drug Free Workplace

NLR is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug.

If you are offered employment at NLR, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may be withdrawn.