Strategic Program Development Manager

Savannah River National Laboratory • Aiken, SC

2d

About The Position

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is seeking a Strategic Program Development Manager to serve as Georgia Tech’s dedicated senior liaison to SRNL. This role will understand and advance the goals of GT, Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), and SRNL leadership through activities such as advancing collaborative research and identifying areas of strategic alignment. This position will report directly to the Science, Energy, and Innovation Associate Laboratory Director at SRNL to ensure alignment of goals. The role will also work to facilitate similar outcomes in advancing research between other universities and Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BSRA). This position will interact regularly with SRNL and University executive leadership, national laboratory engagement program members, Campus research leadership (e.g., Associate Deans for Research, School chairs, Interdisciplinary Research Institute executive directors), Corporate Engagement, Government Relations, Commercialization, academic faculty, and industry partners.

Requirements

• PhD in a relevant field and experience commensurate with the level of appointment, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 8 years of relevant working experience.
• Demonstrated senior leadership experience in a national laboratory or equivalent research organization.
• Proven record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs funded by federal program offices.
• Experience with DOE national laboratory operations, funding processes, and federal stakeholder engagement.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively across academic, laboratory, federal, and corporate environments.
• US Citizenship is Legally Required for ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• 10–15 years of working experience in a national laboratory or comparable federal research environment.
• Expertise leading or contributing to large-scale federally funded or DOE-funded research initiatives.
• Experience managing collaborations and deliverables with large teams (20+).
• Experience facilitating leadership discussions, such as advisory committees, and developing and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Experience bridging laboratory capabilities with university research ecosystems.
• Familiarity with advanced manufacturing, nuclear systems, environmental remediation, or integrated energy systems.
• Experience managing large piloting capabilities at the intersections of energy and manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic point of contact for SRNL engagement with Georgia Tech.
• Work to build strong relationships with other BSRA partners, SRNL and Georgia Tech.
• Facilitate connections between SRNL researchers and faculty, centers, and institutes to accelerate team formation and proposal readiness.
• Identify opportunities for strategic joint faculty appointments and student engagement with SRNL.
• Advance collaboration across priority areas, such as energy, advanced manufacturing, nuclear materials processing and disposition, environmental remediation, national security, grid resilience, and workforce development.
• Oversee discussions between GT-SRNL leadership and translate priority strategies into actionable collaboration pathways of mutual interests.
• Develop SRNL-university programs specifically designed to advance workforce development in energy.
• Support the development of large, complex, multi-investigator proposals involving SRNL and GT.
• Assist in aligning proposal concepts with both SRNL programmatic priorities and GT research capabilities.
• Support communications with federal agencies regarding areas of SRNL-GT collaboration.
• Coordinate SRNL participation in GT-led initiatives and workshops.
• Operate within the GT national laboratory engagement framework to build programming and identify opportunities for strategic collaborations leading to long-term funding.
• Coordinate closely with university executive leadership to ensure alignment with campus-wide strategy.
• Contribute to communications outlining notable deliverables to key stakeholders which may include briefings, presentations, and web content, in coordination with the university and national lab communications teams.
• Represent SRNL-GT engagement in internal GT and SRNL meetings and selected external forums, as appropriate and aligned with program leadership.
• Support workforce development and engagement practices, including coordination with regional partners where relevant.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree