Overview:
At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.
Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.
The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.
The Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, is accelerating the transition to an efficient, resilient, and secure energy system through basic and applied research. We leverage a strong technical foundation in power and energy systems and advanced data analytics to drive innovation, transform markets, and shape energy policy.
Rockstar Rewards:
Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan* and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.
- Research Associates excluded.
**All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.
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Responsibilities:
This position is in the Building Simulation and Design Group (BS&DG) within PNNL’s Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division (EI&BD). BS&DG conducts modeling and analysis to evaluate the impacts of building energy policies, codes, and standards; develops tools and workflows to support building research and decision making; and helps accelerate adoption of energy-efficient technologies. The group maintains core research capabilities in building energy simulation, building energy policy analysis, and tool development for building applications.
BS&DG is seeking a Senior Administrative Coordinator to provide administrative support to a geographically distributed team of approximately 50 engineers, scientists, and project managers. This full-time position reports to the BS&D Group Leader and serves as the group administrator. The position requires close coordination with the broader administrative team for the Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division. In addition to supporting BS&DG, this position will provide limited on-site support to the PNNL-Portland office, in coordination with the office administrator. The preferred candidate would need to be on-site at least 4 days a week.
You are a self-starting, well-organized administrative professional who multi-tasks effectively and independently organize and prioritizes your work. You team well with your administrative peers, management, staff, and office operations partners, and you leverage those partnerships to support effective group operations and positive communications.
You will proactively partner with the BS&D Group Leader, anticipate administrative needs, and maintain familiarity with group activities, deadlines, schedules, and recurring business processes to provide timely and effective support. You are responsive to staff requests and demonstrate strong follow-through, and exercise sound judgment in resolving routine administrative issues and escalating more complex or sensitive matters.
You use excellent written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and versatile interpersonal skills to foster effective working relationships within the BS&D group, across the Laboratory, and with candidates, visitors, sponsors, and other external contacts. You maintain a high degree of confidentiality, discretion, professionalism, and good judgment.
Key responsibilities include:
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Independently support the Group Leader’s schedule and calendar, coordinate meetings, and help track cyclical activities, due dates, action items, and administrative follow-up related to group operations and staff changes.
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Coordinate group calendars, recurring meetings, and communication forums, including group meetings and other group events.
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Serve as a knowledgeable administrative resource to group members, including staff on the main campus and in other locations, with business travel requests, travel booking, travel expense reporting, training requirement tracking, document routing, and other administrative activities using PNNL business systems.
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Coordinate office supply and group equipment purchases using PCard and B2B systems, including purchase request tracking, approval routing, vendor follow-up, receipt confirmation, payment coordination, and issue resolution with requesters, finance, procurement, and other internal contacts.
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Coordinate hiring activities, including candidate interviews, travel arrangements, interview agendas, logistics, and related communications to help ensure a strong first impression of PNNL.
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Coordinate onboarding of new staff, including ordering computer equipment, supporting office setup, scheduling networking meetings, helping new staff connect with group resources, and tracking administrative onboarding actions through completion.
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Serve as a resource to staff by providing guidance on routine PNNL administrative policies, procedures, and business processes, making appropriate referrals when needed.
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Coordinate group and limited PNNL-Portland office support needs, including space, equipment, access, badging, visitor support, service request coordination, office logistics, local meetings or events, and other activities coordinated with facilities, security, office operations, the senior PNNL-Portland Office administrator, and other appropriate PNNL contacts.
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Maintain and improve organization of group information, including group rosters, shared files, templates, administrative records, and group communication materials such as SharePoint or website updates, using established procedures.
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Compose, edit, proofread, and format correspondence, documents, meeting materials, and other written communications with a high level of accuracy, including materials that may be shared across groups, division contacts, or internal service partners.
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Collect signatures, route documents and requests for approval, and track administrative actions through completion, including receipt of goods, payment, reimbursement, access actions, or other closeout steps.
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Prioritize and organize daily work independently, follow through on commitments, identify administrative issues or process gaps, resolve routine issues using established procedures, and gather information needed to escalate more complex or sensitive issues.
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Recommend practical improvements for the group or related office workflows.
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Support organizational events and occasional travel to other PNNL locations or group events, expected approximately four times per year.
This position is based on-site at the Portland office and requires regular on-site work.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
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High school diploma/GED and 8 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment -OR-
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AA degree or higher and 6 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment.
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Experience in planning meetings and coordinating travel
Preferred Qualifications:
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Working knowledge of departmental and company administrative policies, procedures, practices, and business systems, with demonstrated ability to help others navigate established processes.
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Demonstrate experience providing administrative support to a manager, group leader, team, and geographically distributed organization.
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Experience independently coordinating calendars, schedules, meetings, agendas, action items, logistics, and follow-up for staff or team meetings.
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Experience coordinating domestic business travel, visitor logistics, candidate travel, and travel expense reporting, including resolving routine issues and escalating questions appropriately.
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Experience processing a high volume of standard forms and administrative requests, such as awards, purchase requisitions, expense reimbursements, approvals, document routing, access actions, and related closeout steps.
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Proficient use of Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint.
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Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing, proofreading, editing, and formatting correspondence, documents, agendas, presentations, or other administrative materials that may be shared beyond the immediate team.
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Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, track deadlines, and deliver high-quality work in a timely manner.
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Demonstrated ability to take initiative, work independently within established procedures, exercise sound judgment, resolve routine administrative issues, and gather information to escalate more complex or sensitive issues.
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Ability to handle sensitive or confidential information with discretion, professionalism, and sound judgment.
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Demonstrated customer-service orientation and ability to interact professionally with staff, managers, candidates, visitors, sponsors, vendors, internal service providers, and office operations partners.
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Experience supporting onsite office operations, visitor logistics, facilities requests, access coordination, badging-related processes, or similar local office support activities.
Additional Information:
This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
A security clearance background investigation includes review of your employment, education, financial, and criminal history, as well as interviews with you and your personal references, neighbors, and co-workers to determine trustworthiness, reliability, and loyalty to the United States. The investigation also examines your foreign connections, drug and alcohol use, foreign influence, and overall conduct.
Requirements:
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U.S. Citizenship
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Background Investigation: Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
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Drug Testing: All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, which means that the applicant selected for hire is subject to pre-employment drug testing, and post-employment random drug testing. In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP).
Note: Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy if non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months cannot be demonstrated.
Testing Designated Position (TDP):
This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.
About PNNL:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to the values of Integrity, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Courage. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven people come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!
At PNNL, you will find an exciting research environment and excellent benefits including health insurance, and flexible work schedules. PNNL is located in eastern Washington State—the dry side of Washington known for its stellar outdoor recreation and affordable cost of living. The Lab’s campus is only a 45-minute flight (or ~3 hour drive) from Seattle or Portland, and is serviced by the convenient PSC airport, connected to 8 major hubs.
Commitment to Excellence and Equal Employment Opportunity:
Our laboratory is committed to fostering a work environment where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect while solving critical challenges in fundamental sciences, national security, and energy resiliency. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. PNNL considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), protected veteran status, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local laws.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures and in employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, contact us at
[email protected].
Drug Free Workplace:
PNNL is committed to a drug-free workplace supported by Workplace Substance Abuse Program (WSAP) and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs.
If you are offered employment at PNNL, you must pass a drug test prior to commencing employment. PNNL complies with federal law regarding illegal drug use. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you test positive for any illegal controlled substance, including marijuana, your offer of employment will be withdrawn.
HSPD-12 PIV Credential Requirement:
As a national laboratory, PNNL is responsible for adhering to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, which require new employees to obtain and maintain a HSPD-12 Personal Identify Verification (PIV) Credential. To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete the applicable tier of federal background investigation post hire and receive a favorable federal adjudication. The tier of federal background investigation will be determined by job duties and national security or public trust responsibilities associated with the job. All tiers of investigation include a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last 1 to 7 years (depending on the applicable tier of investigation). Illegal drug activities include marijuana and cannabis derivatives, which are still considered illegal under federal law, regardless of state laws.
For foreign national candidates:
If you have not resided in the U.S. for three consecutive years, you are not eligible for the PIV credential and instead will need to obtain a favorable Local Site Specific Only (LSSO) Federal risk determination to maintain employment. Once you meet the three-year residency requirement thereafter, you will be required to obtain a PIV credential to maintain employment. The tier of federal background investigation required to obtain the PIV credential will be determined by job duties at the time you become eligible for the PIV credential.
