Posting Title

Capacity Expansion Model Developer

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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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Working at NLR

NLR is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development.

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

This employee will collect the required data and develop fundamental methods and software tools and interfaces required to support large scale electric system capacity expansion. The developed data sets, data specifications, and tools will help inform future planning, policy and infrastructure development.

• Develop the generalized frameworks to link capacity expansion models (CEM), such as GenX and ReEDS, and production cost models (PCM), such as Sienna\Ops, including automated methods to translate data inputs and results from one form of model to another (leveraging the Sienna\Data package).

• Develop automated workflows to estimate maximum power flow transfer constraints between any arbitrary set of aggregated spatial regions (or “zones”) based on a nodal/line-by-line model of the continental US transmission system composed from utility-sourced data with power flow simulation capabilities in Sienna\Ops.

• Work towards automating transmission network designs to enable generation interconnections and transmission capacity augmentations consistent with results from CEMs and develop methods for automated downscaling of zonal CEM results to a nodal PCM for further reliability analysis (and eventually stability analysis) and confirm costs used for transmission expansion used in the CEM.

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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.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Domain knowledge of bulk power system modeling, such as capacity expansion, resource adequacy, and/or production cost modeling.
• Demonstrated understanding of power systems and power flow modeling fundamentals.
• Demonstrated experience in optimization modeling, including proficiency with a programming language such as GAMS, Python, and/or Julia.
• Experience with working with large data sets.
• An interest in power system issues.
• Strong written and oral communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and in team settings.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bulk power system domain knowledge about investment/planning processes, grid operations, markets, regulatory processes, etc.

• Experience with software engineering practices, including version control systems, automated testing frameworks, and continuous integration pipelines.

• Deep familiarity with using and developing Sienna for power systems modeling.

• Demonstrated Experience working with large scale power systems data sets.

• Clearance: Preference for individuals who are able to obtain and maintain a DOE security clearance at the DOE (Q) and SCI access. SCI access may require a polygraph examination.

  Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE O 472.2A for additional information.

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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)

Job Profile: Researcher III / Annual Salary Range: $83,600 - $150,500

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

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*. NLR 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

Badging Requirement

NLR is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. 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.

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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