Job Description

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, is the nation’s primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. NREL has an immediate job opening at it’s Flatirons Campus in Boulder, Colorado for a full time (40 hours per week) Postdoctoral Researcher with experience and training in ocean engineering and numerical modeling of wave and current energy systems.

The successful candidate must have experience developing or using high fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD, e.g., OpenFOAM) methods and/or reduced order numerical modeling tools (e.g., WEC-Sim or OpenFAST). The candidate will work with a team of engineers at NREL to carry out research in the following areas: 1) hydrodynamic modeling; 2) fluid structure interaction modeling; 3) system design and loads analysis; 4) numerical wave basin development; and 5) model verification and validation. The goal of this work is to develop, verify, and validate predictive numerical simulation tools that can be used to design and optimize marine energy systems.

The candidate will be expected to be involved in numerical modeling and simulations projects, work with the U.S. Department of Energy, other National Laboratories, and industry, publish research in technical journals, and to present work at conferences, symposia, and review meetings.

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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

The desired candidate will have:

• A PhD in engineering with training in ocean engineering
• Experience in wave theory and system dynamics
• Experience in reduced order numerical modeling of marine energy systems using frequency domain approaches (e.g., WAMIT, Nemoh or AQWA) and time domain (i.e. Cummins Equation) simulation methods.
• Experience with high-performance computing (e.g., OpenFOAM, StarCCM+ ANSYS Fluent, or Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics models), particularly in the area of modeling of wave and floating body interaction.
• Experience in modeling the fluid and structural dynamics of floating marine energy devices or similar systems (e.g., offshore wind turbines)
• Experience in numerical method development and knowledge of programming languages, including C++ , Python, Fortran and Matlab/Simulink.
• Experience in the development of control systems with emphasis on ocean energy devices.
• Excellent writing, interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

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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 maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug.

If you are offered employment at NREL, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may 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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