Postdoctoral Appointee: Critical Materials and Manufacturing

The Nuclear Technologies and National Security Directorate (NTNS) and the Advanced Energy Technologies (AET) Directorate are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral appointee. The position will support both NTNS and AET directorates with development of databases, supply chain modeling and analysis and provide strategic insights on domestic and global critical materials, supply chains, technologies, and manufacturing needed to meet U.S economic and decarbonization goals. This role will build on existing work at Argonne and collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team and will involve the following:

• Conduct research and analysis and develop models to aid decision-making around topics related to improving the domestic and global resilience of supply chains for technologies vital to clean energy and decarbonization of the U.S. economy.

• Support the development of a comprehensive supply chain database for target critical materials and manufactured products.

• Employ analytics to quantify and categorize the resources available from global and domestic sources, including consideration for supply chain risks and uncertainties, as well as economic, environmental, and social impacts.

• Conduct research and analysis to illustrate the impact of supply chain risks on near term criticality of critical materials, identifying key bottlenecks to the needed growth of clean energy technologies.

• Work with a broader, multi-disciplinary team to integrate existing critical materials databases and develop a software interface to promote data access for a broader community of analysts and other stakeholders.

• Support communication and engagement with stakeholders from communities, government, and private institutions.

 

The candidate must demonstrate the ability for convergent thinking and systems analysis that draws from a variety of fields such as engineering, economics, and sustainability sciences. The candidate will receive a supportive and enabling environment to develop research projects, grow research collaborations, communicate impactful research outcomes in peer-reviewed journals, and support other related projects within the team’s portfolio.

This position description documents the general nature and level of work but is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all activities, duties and responsibilities required of job incumbents. Consequently, job incumbent may be required to perform other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• PhD in Economics, Mining Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Material Science, Systems Engineering, Logistics/Supply Chain or equivalent

• Experience with modeling, and analysis of material supply chains.

• Ability to integrate diverse knowledge, methods, and perspectives to drive analysis and innovation

• Ability to lead research projects, establish collaborations, and work with multidisciplinary research teams

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills

• Commitment to Argonne’s Core Values: Impact, Safety, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork

• To perform the essential functions of this position successful applicants must provide proof of U.S. citizenship, which is required to comply with federal regulations and contract.

This level of knowledge is typically achieved through a formal education in Economics, Mining Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Material Science, Systems Engineering, Logistics/Supply Chain, or a related field at the Ph.D. level with zero years of employment experience.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• Proficiency in R and Python Programming: This includes experience with data manipulation, statistical analysis, and predictive modeling

• Familiarity with economics as it applies to mining, energy industries, and manufacturing

• Familiarity with resource extraction and processing practices

• Experience with techno-economic and life cycle analysis

• Ability to develop and synthesize visualizations to effectively communicate analysis results​

Job Family

Postdoctoral Family

Job Profile

Postdoctoral Appointee

Worker Type

Long-Term (Fixed Term)

Time Type

Full time

As an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer, and in accordance with our core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity and teamwork, Argonne National Laboratory is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace that fosters collaborative scientific discovery and innovation. In support of this commitment, Argonne encour