Electrochemical Scientist - Leidos

Description

Leidos currently has an opening for an early career Electrochemical Scientist to join our research support team in Pittsburgh, PA in supporting the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratory (https://netl.doe.gov). This is an opportunity to conduct research with world-class scientists and engineers using state of the art equipment, contributing to new areas of applied research to enhance the nation’s energy security and protect the environment for future generations. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary, scientific and technical-oriented national laboratory. NETL produces technological solutions for America’s energy challenges to support home-grown energy initiatives, stimulate a growing economy, and improve the health, safety, and security of all Americans. Highly skilled professionals at three NETL research sites – Albany, OR, Morgantown, WV, and Pittsburgh, PA – conduct a broad range of research activities that support DOE’s mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.

This position will support the NETL’s Carbon Conversion portfolio which aims to develop promising technologies to convert CO2 from flue gas or other sources into commercially relevant chemicals, to generate demand for CO2 removal from the environment and support DOE’s decarbonization mission. NETL has research expertise and experience in electrochemical CO2 conversion into carbon monoxide and formate/formic acid and the candidate will be joining the team to support further research efforts to improve yield and efficiency of the process. The candidate will also be involved in the scale-up effort to demonstrate the technology at a larger bench scale, as well as nascent electrochemical CO2 conversion research efforts to explore related concepts and alternative products.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Perform collaborative experimental research with the CO2 Conversion team at NETL Pittsburgh to:
  • Perform full-cell electrochemical experiments to evaluate and optimize the efficiency of various electrodes and reaction conditions in a catalytic CO2 reduction electrolyzer.
  • Prepare catalyst materials and electrode assemblies.
  • Perform related materials characterization to support the efforts above.
• Collaborate with the principal investigator (PI), other researchers, engineering and support staff to accomplish project-related tasks.
• Disseminate research results through presentations in relevant scientific forums, and/or publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Required Education, Experience & Other:

• A PhD degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science or related fields of study
• 2+ years prior experience performing electrochemical experiments in a laboratory or industrial research setting. Relevant PhD research work counts against this requirement.
• Must be able to meet the requirement for gaining access to work on the NETL campus.
• A proven track record of publication in reputable peer-reviewed journals, as well as experience in presenting results at relevant scientific forums.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills for technical and general audiences.
• Detail oriented and safety-minded in performing work in a laboratory.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Independent researcher with experience of managing multiple research projects in a laboratory setting.
• Can demonstrate a track record of close collaboration with multiple researchers, internally or externally, demonstrating strong interpersonal skills and serving as technical resource within a research group.
• Experience in building lab-scale gas and fluid delivery systems for electrochemical full cells, including selecting appropriate process instrumentation and data acquisition systems.
• Experience in relevant complementary materials characterization and product quantification techniques e.g. SEM, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and gas and liquid chromatography.
• Experience in materials synthesis and catalyst preparation.
• Experience in fabrication techniques for full cell components, e.g. gas diffusion electrodes and membrane separators.

Salary Range for this specific position: $90K to $100K

Original Posting Date:

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.