Posting Title

Postdoctoral Researcher – Numerical Optimization

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Location

CO - Golden

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Position Type

Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our eight employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

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Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

The AI, Learning and Intelligent Systems (ALIS) Group in the NREL Computational Science Center has an opening for a full-time Postdoctoral Researcher in the field of optimization. We are looking for a dynamic researcher with a strong technical background in optimization modeling and algorithm development for both black-box and glass-box problems to help us transform our renewable energy future.

The successful candidate will have exposure to optimization problems arising across the NREL mission area, including multi-fidelity optimization and energy systems planning and operation. The successful candidate will develop novel optimization algorithms that are targeted at the various problem characteristics encountered in our applications (e.g., nonlinearity, multi-fidelity, discrete decisions) and deploy these algorithms on various compute platforms as applicable (e.g., HPC, cloud). We seek candidates capable of devising creative optimization approaches as well as developing the underlying convergence theory. Candidates must have creative problem-solving skills, a strong interest in cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a passion for the mission and goals of both NREL and EERE.

Responsibilities:

• Closely collaborate with domain experts to model optimization problems.
• Develop optimization algorithms and the underlying convergence theory to solve target applications arising in energy systems planning and operation, vehicle routing, and multi-fidelity black-box simulations related to bioreactors.
• Creatively identify new opportunities for computational optimization approaches across the NREL mission space.
• Author publications in top-tier venues and contribute to proposals to sustain research directions.

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Basic Qualifications
Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Experience with real-world optimization applications.
• Experience in using parallel computing and high-performance computing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience developing numerical optimization algorithms and convergence theory.
• Demonstrated experience working in interdisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience in collaboratively working on large code bases.

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Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)
Job Profile: Postdoctoral Researcher / Annual Salary Range: $71,300 - $117,600

NREL 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
Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; short-term disability insurance*; pension benefits*; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*; life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance; personal time off (PTO) and sick leave; and paid holidays. NREL employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement.

* Based on eligibility rules

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NREL 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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EEO Policy

NREL is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action 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.

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