Center Chief Operating Officer at Fermi Research Alliance, LLC in Batavia, Illinois

Job Description:

Job Description

Open Date:March 4, 2021

Close Date:April 4, 2021

Description

Fermilab is America's premier laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. We support discovery science experiments in Illinois as well as other locations around the world including; deep underground mines in South Dakota and Canada, mountaintops in Arizona and Chile, and additionally the South Pole.

The SQMS Center was established by the National Quantum Initiative Act as a hub in a new cooperative ecosystem built from national labs, universities, and leading companies. The mission of the SQMS Center is to build revolutionary new quantum science platforms that exploit superconducting radio frequency cavities and superconducting qubits for quantum information science (QIS) in the area of quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum physics experiments.

Fermilab's Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems (SQMS) Center and Division seeks aCenter Chief Operating Officer (COO), as the senior operations leader within SQMS. From this position, the COO will establish expectations, provide mentoring and support, and hold SQMS staff accountable for continuous improvements in operational performance, including conduct of operations, operational culture and accountability, configuration management, compliance, quality assurance, and environmental safety and health.

Driving these improvements, the COO will ensure that center and DOE programmatic goals are delivered while operating the SQMS laboratories and facilities effectively, efficiently, reliably, and in full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and client expectations.

The SQMS COO will also work with other DOE Quantum Information Science (QIS) centers, agencies, and programs to coordinate strategic operational initiatives related to quantum information sciences.

The COO will support the SQMS Director on matters pertaining to the development of center strategic planning and business planning. With the support of the center leadership team, the COO will lead the development and execution of new initiatives to improve operational performance and reliability, facilitate management of operational events, support diversity of perspective and an empowering culture, and drive the Safe Conduct of Research principles into the organizational culture and operations.

You Will

• Formulate long-term operations strategies in collaboration with the SQMS Director that integrate with science and technology directions of the center.


• Manage and provide operational support for subcontracting, technology transfer, commercialization, environmental, safety, health and quality (ESH&Q), and reporting.


• Work with the SQMS Core Management team to facilitate center-level strategic planning.


• Support SQMS's Director in implementing the operational improvements needed to meet the expectations set forth in the SQMS operating plan.


• Support and drive center-level change in operational practices and systems.


• Be cognizant of activities in the center and the associated operational challenges, risks, and hazards. Serve as a member of the QIS Communities of Practice (CoP) COO group.


• Be active in center-level activities such as strategicplanning, policy development and commitment management. Lead assessment and corrective action teams.


• Review and assess the impacts of various proposed FNAL initiatives and management systems' changes and develop implementation plans to ensure safe, secure, effective, and efficient operations within the SQMS center.


• Represent SQMS and the R&D mission by communicating issues, lessons learned, best practices, and challenges related to management systems, operations, safety, security, compliance, and performance assessments to the QIS CoP COO group, and FNAL senior management.


• Facilitate special activities including workshops, specialized committees, etc., for the center.

• Assess and coordinate responses to requests for input from center and laboratory management, DOE, and other sponsors


• Exercise control for building access for Foreign Nationals.


• Work with the SQMS leadership and FNAL senior management to ensure Export Control and other procedures are followed.


• Coordinate with the SQMS leadership team to provide operational support to researchers to maintain compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, DOE orders, and FNAL and SQMS policies and procedures regarding safety and environmental protection.


• Act as the Subject Matter Expert in the development of Facility Use Agreements, and other safety and operational documents for classified and unclassified activities within the SQMS Center.


• Accountable to the SQMS Director for the oversight of operations-related management systems, operations, safety, compliance, and performance assessments across the entire SQMS Center


• Accountable to the SQMS line management and staff for the development and deployment of operations-related mechanisms that support safe, efficient, and effective research.

We Are Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific or engineering discipline with at least 5+ years of experience working in R&D missions and operations.


• 5 or more years of experience in effectively managing operational and programmatic teams to support cutting-edge R&D.


• Experience at a major experimental research facility or an equivalent type of facility is required.


• Experience successfully working across scientific community agencies and programs.

• Master's degree in a scientific or computing related discipline.


• Familiarity with DOE programs and facilities

Physical Activity and Work Conditions

Human Factors: Mental Concentration, Sitting, Standing, Tight Work Schedule, Visually Demanding Ability to work at a computer for extended periods of time.

Fermilab is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Underrepresented groups/Women/Disabled/Veterans are encouraged to apply

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