Posting Title
Postdoctoral Researcher - Generative AI for Clean Energy

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Location
CO - Golden

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Position Type
Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week
40

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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

The AI, Learning and Intelligent Systems Group in the NREL Computational Science Center has an opening for a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on generative AI techniques for modeling energy systems and community infrastructure to help assist communities with their transition to clean energy.  The Researcher will be responsible for developing new generative AI architectures for buildings, roads, and community-level energy infrastructure, training AI models, and generating samples of extreme events.  The Researcher will incorporate physics-informed and multi-modal learning techniques to address sparse data challenges.

We are looking for a dynamic, motivated researcher with a strong technical background and an interest in the mission of NREL. The successful candidate will have strong applied math expertise in the areas of scientific machine learning, renewable energy, power systems, and building modeling.

Responsibilities include:

• Computational modeling of buildings and power systems
• Developing new generative AI models for computational representations of community energy infrastructure
• Collaborate with NREL researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds, including computational science, buildings modeling, power systems, energy analysis and community engagement
• Extending generative AI models to include physics-informed capabilities reflecting buildings and energy infrastructure properties
• Author, present and assist in the preparation of technical papers, reports and conference proceedings on topics related to data-driven approaches to data-driven computational modeling of community infrastructure
• Writing and maintaining open source software packages

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Basic Qualifications
Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Candidates should have demonstrated interest or experience in data-driven modeling, machine learning, and uncertainty quantification
• Candidates should have experience with computational modeling of energy systems: renewable generation, buildings, power systems, transportation, etc
• Candidates must have a strong foundation in coding, particularly with python.
• Candidates should have an interest in the unique challenges of community-level energy transitions

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with EnergyPlus or Ochre buildings modeling software
• Experience with optimal power flow solvers for energy systems
• Experience with state of the art large language models and physics-informed machine learning techniques

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Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)
Job Profile: Postdoctoral Researcher / Annual Salary Range: $71,300 - $117,600

NREL 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-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; and paid holidays. 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.

* Based on eligibility rules

Drug Free Workplace

NREL is committed to a drug-free workplace supported by Workplace Substance Abuse Program (WSAP) and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs.

If you are offered employment at NREL, you must pass a drug test prior to commencing employment. NREL complies with federal law regarding illegal drug use. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you test positive for any illegal controlled substance, including marijuana, your offer of employment will be withdrawn.

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, 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.

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