Researcher III – Power Electronics Design and Laboratory Evaluation

Posting Title

Researcher III – Power Electronics Design and Laboratory Evaluation

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Location

CO – Golden

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Position Type

Regular

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Hours Per Week

40

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COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Employment at NREL is contingent upon your compliance with all NREL and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) safety protocols and mitigation efforts directed at the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

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

NREL conducts world-class energy research in the public interest. Nestled in the foothills of Golden, Colorado, surrounded by grassland, and convenient to Denver, Boulder, and several suburbs, the NREL campus is a living experiment filled with curious researchers and advanced energy technologies (e.g., improving the nation’s electrical grid infrastructure, making it more flexible, reliable, resilient, secure, and sustainable).

The successful candidate will work in Golden, Colorado with an interdisciplinary team of experienced NREL researchers to design, develop, and evaluate power electronic converters as well as the associated controls for widespread integration of renewable energy sources to the power systems.

At a minimum, the successful candidate will (a) conduct research in the area of power electronics related to the increase of renewable energy deployment, with a focus on power electronics evaluation using NREL’s unique capabilities in the Energy System Integration Facility (ESIF). The successful candidate will design power electronic converters; evaluate controller- and power-hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests and analyze results; develop, test, and improve HIL techniques; and participate in the development of new research proposals seeking additional funding.

Organizationally, this position resides in the Integrated Devices and Systems Group (IDS) of the Power Systems and Engineering Center (PSEC). IDS, PSEC, and NREL are more committed to fostering a creative, curiosity-driven, inclusive workplace, and to supporting and mentoring research staff as they progress from task execution to principal investigator and beyond.

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Basic Qualifications
Relevant PhD . Or, relevant Master’s Degree and 3 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Bachelor’s Degree and 5 or more years of experience . Demonstrates broad understanding and wide application of engineering technical procedures, principles, theories and concepts in the field. General knowledge of other related disciplines. Demonstrates leadership in one or more areas of team, task or project lead responsibilities. Demonstrated experience in management of projects. Very good writing, interpersonal and communication skills.

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Additional Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with experience in modeling, design, development, and evaluation of controls for grid connected power converters.
• Background in both power electronics and power systems.
• Previous experience in power converter modeling using MATLAB, PLECs, or similar tools.
• Experience with HIL simulations using RTDS and/or OPAL-RT
• Experience programing embedded controls such as Texas Instruments DSP programming
• PCB design using Altera-Altium or Eagle
• Excellent writing and communications skills
• Ability to present technical results to a wide audience
• Strong interests in future energy systems, including renewable energy, electrification, power system operations and distributed energy resources
• Enthusiastic about learning new skills and applying them in a collaborative environment to help address critical energy system research questions

Preferred Qualifications

• Postdoc experience in the power electronics research area
• Experience working with commercial power electronic applications

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Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)
Job Profile: Researcher III / Annual Salary Range: $75,500 – $135,900

NREL takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, as well as the position’s work location, 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*- and long-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; paid holidays; and tuition reimbursement*. 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. Limited-term positions are not eligible for long-term disability or tuition 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, 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.

EEO is the Law Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Reasonable Accommodations

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