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National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory protective Force officer job is the classic situation of it  "Much to do about nothing." The basic Patrol function is nothing more than checking and rechecking the same locked doors to the same buildings over the course of an 8 to 12 hour shift.  The emergency preparedness procedures are overly detailed and convoluted. This step by step process for things such as fire alarms medical emergencies and HVAC issues is often used as ammunition against security if the slightest thing goes wrong or someone complains about how it was handled even if handled correctly. The communication and dispatch center for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory often doesn't work due to power issues, making it difficult for security personnel to do their jobs. The worst part of the National Renewable Energy Lab protective Force officer position is the security management and supervision. Security supervision will often hideout for several hours expecting the regular security personnel to do all of the work. Security supervision often will not make on the spot supervisory decisions and leave it up to the regular officer to "Make the Call"  only to be criticized later for making the decision that they made. Often especially during shift change security supervision will argue and yell and sometimes use profanity at the other officers in front of other employees. These arguments were usually about last minute call offs, schedule changes and disagreements on policy and procedures. Sometimes these arguments escalated and almost became physical confrontations. When all of these above mentioned issues were brought to the attention of upper management, nothing was ever done and the behavior continued. Do yourself a favor and take your knowledge skills and abilities somewhere else and work where you will be appreciated.

You better make sure you are an expert at what you're applying for before you accept the job offer. NREL only hires the best, the flawless, the ultra-intelligent systematic super humans. 
There is little training and zero to little mentoring for your specific job. You are expected to learn quickly and independently, without much guidance. Most people are willing to help, but your manager will most likely be informed and irritated if you are continuously asking for help (even if it's a new type of task). Don't put your trust in everyone, because if they do not like you or are unsatisfied with what you are doing, they will tell on you like a tattling child. If management decides that you are not performing to their expectations (they are usually so busy, they don't actually know what you are doing half the time and go by what others tell them), or you are not intuitively catching on to the functions of federal government fast enough, or your manager doesn't like your personality (combined with pointing out every flaw and not praising the positives), they will fearlessly terminate you without warning.

Tips:
Make sure you treat your managers like superiors and always act professional around them. 
Treat everyone with respect because they all deserve it. 
Read about NREL's programs and research in your free time (after work because you won't have time while you are there) to become more familiar with everything, but don't report those hours on your time sheet.
NREL highly values education, so the more you have the better. 
Dress professionally, act professionally, do not share about your personal life.

On the plus side- they have great benefits and everyone who works at NREL is extremely intelligent and an expert in their field.

Timeline: Worked at NREL for 5+ years making a contribution, getting great reviews, winning "awards" for outstanding work. My manager retires. New Manager (yes, it was his first and only management job) suddenly finds a way to get several of my colleagues, (long time Lab staff themselves) to quit or retire. The manager clearly had favorites (those he hired himself) and spent a great deal of time and resources trying to get rid of those of us who were not. 

Long-time staff here spend great amounts of effort protecting their tenure. If you are good at Machiavellian office politics, you will do well. For example, my manager thought it was fun to stare at me in one on one meetings until I said something. Or be 20 minutes late to them and not alert me in any way. I had coworkers who would not acknowledge my existence for months at a time. Truly frightening.

The last 18 months of my time at NREL was spent being bullied by New Manager (with help and support from HR) until I also just left.
 
What is most shocking to me is that many inside the organization find this kind of workplace attitude completely normal. All of this institutional bullying by New Manager was backed Directors all the way up the chain; endorsed and facilitated by HR themselves.

But, if that kind of work environment sounds fun for you, this would be a great job. Your skill with politics here is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than your actual skill. Good luck!

Working for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was a lot of fun.  And the fact that we were working for the better good of the world just made the job much more satisfying.  
For those of you who don't know NREL is a subsidiary of the US Department of Energy that specializes in researching different renewable energy resources.  NREL collaborates with different resources world wide to bring the latest and greatest technologies in renewable products - such as solar, wind, hydro, biofuels, etc - to everyday people.
Everyone in the company knew that they were there to assist in accomplishing something bigger than their day to day tasks.  And the challenges that I personally faces working on the service desk was the computers that weren't on the network because they had to run older software due to the research software that it was compatible with.  
But I always enjoyed learning about the different technologies that were being developed and being a support specialist I was not just answering the service desk phones I was tasked with special projects that allowed me to work with many different people around the laboratory and learn about the many different energy sources that we worked with.

The mission of NREL, to develop sustainable energy and conserve resources, is absolutely critical to our nation's security.  But you wouldn't know this by working at NREL. Executive management works without regard or consideration to reality. They pursue goals that make no obvious sense.  Some within NREL follow executive management without question and push their poorly conceived agenda as if it was written in stone by the lord almighty.  There is no accountability with management as long as they play within the good old boy network.  

Trying to get a contract to get people in to get work done is futile at best.  It can take 6 months to get a contract in place.  Unless executive management wants something and then it can be done in a day. The support organizations like contracts, HR, accounting, legal, safety and facilities groups do not work like they understand that NREL is there to do research and not to comply with ridiculous rules and even worse processes. Researchers are made to work for the support groups instead of the other way around.  

It's a caustic, sad, and frustrating environment, especially considering the importance of the work.

This organization has a fabulous mission, a beautiful campus, and relatively good benefits, with a flexible work environment.  NREL hosts thousands of dedicated and talented people, but the executive management team has reduced communication (both channels and information) in the last year following new leadership.  This research engine hosts some of the most sophisticated facilities and capabilities in the world for studying energy efficiency, and if you're a research scientist or engineer, it could be very fun to work here.  However, if you do anything on the business support side of the house, you are held in low esteem.  Project management rigor is virtually nonexistent, resulting in poorly planned and sloppily executed projects.  Business units are now more siloed than ever, and there is little integration between them, resulting in increasing inefficiencies.  Funding is largely from Congress, although there is increasing emphasis on acquiring industrial partnerships.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It's great being a part of a company at the forefront of renewable energy. Unfortunately, the administrative and corporate aspects are so deep, abusive, and entangled that it was the worst and most toxic work environment I've ever experienced. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Gaslighting by project leads. If someone decides to create a false narrative about someone else, you are powerless to defend yourself. One person can result in you being laid off. There is no employee defense system in place. HR does not listen to a word you say. Administrators are too busy to care. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic, with a smile on their face, in short. It's a culture of working people to extremes. Those who have been there several years take advantage of every single holiday and seem to take most of the month off work. The newer staff are so overworked they can't take a day off for years. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Constantly worrying about being fired. Constantly threatened about being fired. Abused by managers, who smile while they do it. It was gross and I don't wish it on anyone to endure.

I have worked with the TSA, military security, military extraction team for diplomatic clients and  captured military personnel. And this is definitely fits my preferred lifestyle now, laid back and enjoyable.It is during normal hours ( no alarms of fire drill) the most laid back people and great place to work. Everyone waves to every body. We all wave to each other walking, driving and just glancing in their work area. My upper management team is totally awesome. The speak to everyone with respect and will help you out with anything. The co- workers I work with are for the Most part very cool people as well. They take care almost any need you may have. For security personnel we are issued uniforms which are decent. Plus we are provided some seriously sweet winter gear, fall jacks, wind jackets and hats. I have been there for about a year and a half and I actually enjoy it there, the people and the campus are amazing. There is a decent amount of training that they give you. Really nice patrol cars and great hours and a stable job. I give a 👍👍double thumbs up

I'm shocked at some of the reviews about NREL here. Fortunately, poor work and poor effort are not rewarded here. As a new employee, the first thing I was told was that they were there to support me in my personal and professional goals and that I should come first. I've never worked in a place with such an employee-oriented environment. The work hours are standard but flexible schedules are encouraged and supported. Managers and Center Directors are involved and encouraging without micromanaging. Relevant, quality research is in no danger of short funding. There is an active and social culture amongst everyone I've come across. Overall, with the frustrations that come along with the research process, and the mangement at NREL, it's my favorite place to have worked. I'm thankful for my employment here and hope to stay for the rest of my career!

Working at NREL is hard to say anything bad about. The work is interesting and impactful, the people care about what they do, the teams are awesome, and there is a low-stress, focus on work/life balance atmosphere. Hours are extremely flexible. Some people work 4/10's, and a lot of people work a 9/80 schedule instead of standard 40 hour weeks. My old boss even used to work 4/8's and was simply paid 80% of their FTE salary. About the only negative is the bureaucratic slow downs in just about everything, and the fact that you're always chasing money. It's a government research lab that is mostly funded by the DOE, but we're always looking for money elsewhere. Grant writing is important, and finding funding is key. But if you're able to find funding for work, you can have as much freedom as you want. Building relationships with external agencies is also a good asset. Many people spend a few years and leave, while a lot of others make it their entire career. Pay is standard to good.   

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Student intern 44 salaries reported	$59,859 per year
Post-doctoral fellow 40 salaries reported	$96,873 per year
Researcher 11 salaries reported	$125,391 per year
Postdoctoral researcher 26 salaries reported	$96,524 per year
Intern 7 salaries reported	$26.43 per hour

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