Director of Office of Performance Assurance and Chief Risk Officer

The expected hiring range for this position is:

$248,100.00-$341,300.00.

Please note that the pay range information is a general guideline only. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such the scope and responsibilities of the position, qualifications of the selected candidate, business considerations, internal equity, and external market pay for comparable jobs.

About the Role: 

The Director of the Office of Performance Assurance (OPA) is a member of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s (FNAL, Fermilab, or the Laboratory) Senior Leadership Team and is directly accountable to the Laboratory Director for providing leadership, vision, management, direction, oversight, and strategic and tactical planning for executing all aspects of the Laboratory’s Contractor Assurance System (CAS). The Laboratory’s CAS program is designed to enable outstanding science and operational excellence, while ensuring compliance with Fermi Forward Discovery Group’s (FFDG) prime contract requirements with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and other applicable requirements.

The Director of OPA also serves as the Laboratory’s Chief Risk Officer, and in this role, is responsible for: 1) independently managing FNAL’s enterprise risk management system (ERMS) to ensure Laboratory risks are identified, tracked, and addressed; 2) leading interactions with the FNAL Senior Leadership Team, DOE, and FFDG Members to identify, track, and address enterprise risks; and (3) independently develop leading risk indicators that specify the health of the Laboratory for FNAL and FFDG Member leadership.

The Director of OPA is also responsible for working with FFDG Members and the DOE Fermi Site Office (FSO) in implementing the Fermi/DOE prime contract and for managing the DOE-Office of Science Contractor Performance Evaluation and Management Plan (PEMP).  The Director of OPA is additionally responsible for overseeing and managing the Laboratory’s institutional policies within frameworks set by FFDG Members and DOE requirements. The OPA Director leads a team of professionals who manage these programs as well as programs for institutional metrics, assessment, issues management, event reporting and investigation, lessons learned, and quality assurance.

The OPA Director is expected to partner with Laboratory line management to enable and foster a proactive and integrated suite of management systems that collectively promotes an urgent need for critical self-evaluation and sustained improvement through the use of CAS of tools and processes.

What your day-to-day as a Director of the Office of Performance Assurance (OPA) at Fermilab will look like:

• Leadership and direction in implementing CAS to support the Laboratory’s efforts to safely, effectively, and efficiently deliver its mission and projects and achieve operational excellence. Evaluate Laboratory performance and provide reasonable assurance to FFDG Members and DOE that the Laboratory has a set of management systems and processes that fulfill the requirements of the FFDG/DOE prime contract to manage and operate FNAL. 
• Deployment, maintenance, and oversight of all elements of FNAL’s Performance Assurance management system, including enterprise risk management, management and independent assessment, metrics, feedback and improvement, institutional policies and requirements, and continuous improvement. 
• Working with Fermilab’s Office of General Counsel (OGC), manage and maintain the FFDG/DOE prime contract and oversight of the Laboratory’s completion of prime contract deliverables. 
• Oversight, advice, and counsel to FNAL management and staff on all CAS and QA-related matters. Processes and tools that provide DOE and FFDG access to CAS-related information and notifying stakeholders of assurance system changes. 
• Management of the Laboratory’s PEMP processes including preparation and submittal of periodic FNAL PEMP self-evaluations to DOE FSO and Headquarters program offices and completion of the annual Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) process.
• Leadership and direction in implementing QA to support the Laboratory’s efforts to safely effectively and efficiently deliver its mission and projects and achieve operational excellence. 
• Responsible for hiring and retaining staff, career coaching, personal development for direct reports, and accountable for the performance of employees.  
• Provide strategic direction for multiple areas of business; create strategic plans of considerable complexity and scope; set long range direction and make high level decisions.  
• Responsible for the financial viability and success of the OPA organization. 
• Responsible for committing FFDG resources with limited review by senior management. 
• Advise executive management on programmatic and policy development. 
• Negotiate and influence FFDG leaders on issues that have Laboratory-wide impact. 
   

Skills and Attributes for Success:

• Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 15 years of relevant experience or a Master’s degree and a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience in operations management, project management, financial management, or risk management.

Applicable Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Exceptional interpersonal, negotiation and political acumen skills.  Skills in communicating issues with senior leadership peers to devise responsive, efficient business solutions to program-critical tasks, including demonstrated ability to present complex issues in clear, concise terms.
• Oral and written communication skills and the ability to work within regulatory guidelines, with internal and external contacts of varying level of expertise and authority, and to achieve assigned goals to the benefit of the organization and the Laboratory.
• Ability to supervise and lead multidisciplinary teams, including the ability to develop strategies to attract, develop and retain a high-performing diverse staff.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise executive level judgment and leadership to balance mission, project and operational risk for programs, budget, personnel and institutional assets.
• Established positive experience working with auditors, inspectors and other regulatory personnel/agencies, preferably the DOE or other similar agency.
• Proven ability to exercise independent judgment in situations of ambiguous or unforeseeable outcomes or emergencies.
• Ability to travel and work extended hours when needed.

Work Arrangement:
Please note that the described work arrangement is subject to change based on business needs and is not guaranteed to be final. 

Onsite: This is an onsite role, and the candidate must be able to work from our Batavia office.

Benefits/Perks:

• Fermilab offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program, including:
• Medical, Dental, Vision and Flexible Spending Accounts
• Paid time off
• Life insurance
• Short and Long-term disability insurance
• Retirement benefits
• Onsite day care

Why Fermilab: 
Fermilab is America’s premier laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. We support discovery science experiments in Illinois and locations around the world, including deep underground mines in South Dakota and Canada, mountaintops in Arizona and Chile, CERN in Europe and the South Pole.

Drug-Free Workplace & Pre-Employment Screening  

Fermilab is dedicated to fostering a safe, productive, and drug-free work environment. As part of the hiring process, candidates must successfully complete a background check and drug screening. Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of these screenings.

Equal Opportunity Statement   

Fermilab is an equal opportunity employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.

REAL-ID Requirement for access to Fermilab Campus
Fermilab requires all members of the public to produce a REAL-ID, or equivalent, to access the Fermilab Campus for interviews or career events. A list of acceptable forms of ID can be found here: https://get-connected.fnal.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/REALID-Documents.pdf. If a candidate is selected for an interview but does not possess any of the equivalent documents, we may schedule a virtual interview. 

What To Expect Next:
We’ll be in touch! If your qualifications are in alignment with the position requirements, one of our recruiters will be reaching out to schedule a phone interview to learn more about your career interests and goals. In the meantime, we encourage you to check us out on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or our About Us page.