Nuclear Facility Manager - Brookhaven National Laboratory

Organizational Overview:

Brookhaven National Laboratory seeks a Nuclear Facility Manager for the Radionuclide Research and Production Laboratory (RRPL). This position will report to the Nuclear Safety Division Manager. The position is based in Upton, New York, 60 miles east of New York City in Suffolk County. BNL has approximately 2,800 employees and is growing. BNL is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility funded through the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Visit www.bnl.gov for more information.

The Nuclear Safety Division is a part of the Environment, Safety, and Health Directorate. Ensuring regulatory compliance and safe nuclear operations is our mission. Our staff support the overall BNL mission by providing expertise that ensures safe and efficient work processes during scientific research, reduces the likelihood of human error, and manages regulatory programs that preserve the safety and health of BNL employees, the public, and the environment. BNL’s Nuclear Safety program is undergoing expansion to address the growing demand for stable and radioactive isotopes for research and applications that are in short supply and critical to the prosperity and security of our Nation. DOE has designated this as a Mission Essential Function for our Laboratory.

Position Description:

The candidate will serve as the Nuclear Facility Manager for the Radionuclide Research and Production Laboratory (RRPL). In this role, you will be responsible for the overall safe and compliant operation of this Hazard Category 3 nonreactor nuclear facility. As part of our team, you will work in a research and production environment with other nuclear safety professionals and scientific staff, collaborating in cross-disciplinary teams to ensure that all facility operations remain within the DOE-approved safety basis while maximizing the availability of the facility for scientific activities. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with staff from a diverse set of backgrounds while facilitating the development and production of isotopes that are critical to our Nation’s prosperity and security, including life-changing radioisotopes that have shown amazing promise as therapeutics against aggressive cancers.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensure that the RRPL facility is operated within the bounds of the applicable safety basis documents including surveillance frequencies, LCO action time limits, Specific Administrative Controls, and compliance with credited safety management programs.

• Ensure facility related upsets and/or abnormal conditions are properly evaluated to determine potential impacts to the safety basis and related safety management programs, initiate occurrence reporting is necessary, and participate in corrective action development to prevent recurrence.

• Facilitate the consistent, compliant, and efficient implementation of work control across the maintenance, operations, and R&D groups working within the RRPL facility.

• Ensure rigorous compliance with the Unreviewed Safety Question Determination (USQD) process by evaluating all proposed changes consistently and properly prior to implementation to ensure that the facility remains within the approved safety basis.

• Ensure that facilities and assets are maintained in accordance with processes defined in the Nuclear Maintenance Management Program.

• Maintain responsibility for safe operation within the facility including review of material transfers to/from the facility, overseeing daily operation of the facility, ensuring minimum staffing requirements are met, control of physical changes in the facility, and interfacing with tenant organizations to ensure availability of essential services.

• Review and provide concurrence for RRPL safety basis documents, including Facility Hazard Categorization, Documented Safety Analyses (DSA), and Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs).

• Implement established nuclear readiness verification processes for the startup of any new activity or restart of a previously suspended activity.

• Coordinate the development of appropriate documentation, when necessary, to address a Potential Inadequacy of the Safety Analysis (PISA), Evaluation of the Safety of the Situation (ESS), and Justification for Continued Operations (JCO).

• Assume management responsibility for staff assigned to the Nuclear Facility Operations group, including those responsible for nuclear training, nuclear maintenance, engineering, and nuclear support coordination.

• Engage with DOE site office facility representatives to ensure compliance, maintain a flow of communication, and facilitate effective DOE oversight.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Bachelor of Science degree in an engineering field or related science, or significant relevant combination of education and experience as defined in DOE Order 426.2A. 

• Minimum of 8 years’ experience inclusive of 4 years of nuclear experience in a DOE nuclear facility or NRC equivalent.

• Familiarity and experience working under 10 CFR 830 Subparts A and B and the USQ process.

• Must possess exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Must be organized, diligent, and accustomed to a nuclear safety culture.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Prior experience in facility management of DOE Category 2 or 3 nonreactor nuclear facilities.

• Eight or more years of nuclear experience in a DOE nuclear facility or NRC equivalent.

• Familiarity with managing nuclear maintenance under a program that is compliant with DOE O 433.1.

• Familiarity with managing nuclear training under a program that is compliant with DOE O 426.2.

• Experience operating within programs and processes that are compliant with NQA-1 consensus standards.

• Ability to perform within a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks, and adapt to evolving needs.

Other Information

• Occasional travel (one to two times per year) to other DOE National Labs.

• This is an On-Site position.

Brookhaven Laboratory is committed to providing fair, equitable and competitive compensation. The full salary range for this position is $137,40 - $219,600 / year. Salary offers will be commensurate with the final candidate's qualification, education and experience and considered with the internal peer group.