Building Operations & Controls Engineer 3

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•UNAVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE

About The Position

The Buildings Systems Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory seeks a Building Operations and Controls Engineer to improve energy and water efficiency and resilience in federal and commercial facilities. The role involves developing, demonstrating, and applying approaches to Building Re-tuning™, building control systems integration, and predictive fault detection and diagnostics. The successful candidate will bring practical familiarity with building HVAC control systems and experience using control-system data to optimize building performance and develop diagnostic and prognostic methods for proactive building and HVAC operations and maintenance. The Buildings Systems Group conducts applied research to enhance building energy and water efficiency, occupant productivity, and the resilient operation of buildings and connected energy and water systems. Its capabilities include building performance evaluation, building control system optimization, and site-level energy and water resilience assessment and planning. The group collaborates with subject matter experts across the Electricity Infrastructure & Buildings Division. The engineer will apply building science and engineering principles to address operations and controls challenges, develop technical approaches to research problems, and guide more junior staff. The role leads technical products such as reports and journal articles, presents at conferences and technical forums, defines and leads projects or tasks, reports results on time and within budget, contributes leadership to proposals, collaborates across teams, and mentors junior staff or students. The position is accountable to project managers and task leads for assigned work and to the Building Systems Group Leader and Team Leader for staff development, performance evaluation, and operational discipline. Travel of up to 25% may be required for field work, technology demonstrations, sponsor engagements, and project activities at U.S. military installations or other federal facilities. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance and U.S. citizenship.

Requirements

One of the following: BS/BA and at least 5 years of relevant work experience; MS/MA and at least 3 years of relevant work experience; or PhD and at least 1 year of relevant experience.
Familiarity and practical experience with building HVAC control systems through design, programming, commissioning, or operations.
Ability to analyze control system data to optimize building performance.
Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%.
Ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
U.S. citizenship.
For security-clearance eligibility, demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the Questionnaire for National Security Positions.
Selected applicant must undergo a federal background investigation and meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
Selected applicant is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, Building Science, Architectural Engineering, or a related field.
Experience analyzing building- or campus-scale energy and water systems, including design, commissioning, controls, operations and maintenance, or energy auditing such as ASHRAE Level III.
Experience using whole-building energy modeling and simulation tools such as eQUEST or EnergyPlus to evaluate building performance and identify retrofit, operational, or controls optimization opportunities.
Experience analyzing building automation system or building control system data to optimize HVAC performance using diagnostic and prognostic methods that improve operations and maintenance.
Experience planning and executing experimental research, technology demonstrations, or pilot projects.
Experience using programming or scripting languages such as Python or R for data analysis, automation, or visualization.
Experience supporting research or engineering projects at Department of Defense installations or other federal facilities.
Ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary, geographically distributed teams and contribute to technically complex projects.
Ability to communicate technical concepts and research findings through written reports, presentations, and interactions with sponsors and stakeholders; a technical writing sample will be requested during the interview process.
Initiative, technical curiosity, and commitment to advancing building energy efficiency, resilience, and emerging technologies.

Responsibilities

Perform assigned project and task roles in accordance with applicable project and field procedures, completing work on time and within budget.
Apply building science and engineering principles to propose ideas and solve building operations and controls challenges in federal and commercial facilities.
Develop technical approaches to building research challenges and provide guidance to junior staff.
Lead development of technical products, including technical reports and journal articles, and present at national conferences and technical forums.
Define and lead projects and tasks, and report results on time and within budget.
Provide leadership to proposals for new work.
Collaborate with staff across the group and division to share resources and optimize approaches.
Mentor junior staff and/or students.
Support staff development, performance evaluation, and safe operational discipline.
Develop, demonstrate, and apply approaches to building control systems integration, Building Re-tuning™, and predictive fault detection and diagnostics.
Analyze building control system data to optimize building performance and support proactive operation and maintenance.
Travel as needed, up to 25%, for field work, demonstrations, sponsor engagements, and project activities at federal facilities.