Senior Shutdown & Work Planning Manager

The Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is seeking a Senior Shutdown & Work Planning Manager to join our Project & Facilities Management Group. This senior operational leadership position plays a critical role in ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of one of the world's leading scientific user facilities. You will lead complex shutdown and work planning activities, coordinate across technical and facilities organizations, and oversee work management systems and processes that support facility maintenance, infrastructure improvements, and long-term operational readiness. Working closely with ALS operations, ALS-U project teams, Facilities, and other key partners, you will help coordinate critical activities that support the facility's ongoing operations and its transition to the next generation of scientific discovery.

The Advanced Light Source is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national scientific user facility that produces exceptionally bright soft and hard x-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared light. With a strong scientific reputation, expert staff, and advanced capabilities, the ALS attracts thousands of academic and industrial users each year in condensed matter and quantum materials, energy sciences, biosciences, earth and planetary sciences and more.

The ALS is one of five Berkeley Lab user facilities that serve 15,000 users annually. Co-located with the Molecular Foundry, NERSC supercomputing center, and Berkeley Lab's materials, chemical sciences, biosciences, and other divisions, it provides an ideal collaborative environment for innovative scientific discoveries.

The ALS is a global leader in soft x-ray science, and aims to maintain its leadership with ALS-U, a major project to upgrade the facility to a fourth-generation light source. This upgrade will position the facility among the brightest soft x-ray light sources in the world, offering capabilities that no other facility can provide.

The Advanced Light Source is undergoing a major transformation through the Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) project. This upgrade will replace the existing storage ring with a next-generation accelerator, making the ALS one of the world's brightest sources of soft X-rays. The enhanced capabilities will allow scientists to study materials with unprecedented precision, enabling new discoveries in quantum materials, energy technologies, electronics, and biological sciences. As the Senior Shutdown & Work Planning Manager, you will have a unique opportunity to contribute to this historic transformation, helping lay the operational foundation for the next generation of scientific discovery at the ALS.

At Level 4, you will:

• Lead work planning and coordination for a broad portfolio of maintenance, installation, facility, and infrastructure activities across the ALS, applying work-planning best practices and LBNL/DOE requirements to ensure appropriate technical support and review.
• Plan and coordinate long-term ALS and ALS-U shutdown activities, excluding the ALS-U dark time, as well as regular short maintenance downtimes. Ensure planned work is documented in MAXIMO, appropriately scheduled, and clearly communicated to stakeholders.
• Integrate ALS-U activities into ongoing ALS operations, including coordinating pre-dark-period ALS-U work during both shutdown and operational periods.
• Plan and execute small facility-related projects and serve as the day-to-day ALS client representative for Facilities and Project & Infrastructure Management Division projects, ensuring work is coordinated with ALS operational needs and priorities.
• Serve as an ALS Complex Building Manager, supporting the reliability, performance, safety, and overall condition of multiple facilities with complex utility systems and specialized infrastructure.
• Coordinate maintenance and installation activities involving organizations outside of ALS, including LBNL Facilities teams and external contractors performing work outside of dark-time activities.
• Partner with the ALS Safety Team and EHS Division SMEs as necessary to ensure hazards are identified and controlled ensuring alignment of maintenance, installation, and shutdown activities with safety requirements and review processes.
• Oversee the ALS Work Planning System and MAXIMO environment, including maintaining the work-planning database, supporting effective use of the system, and training staff on work-planning processes and tools.
• Expand the use of MAXIMO to strengthen preventive maintenance programs across ALS technical systems in preparation for the ALS-U era.
• Manage asset integration associated with ALS-U, including adding new assets to MAXIMO, incorporating available asset documentation, and retiring assets that are being decommissioned. Identify and advocate for the resources needed to successfully complete this work.
• Support the overall condition, upkeep, and workplace standards of ALS facilities, working with Photon Sciences representatives and other partners to maintain appropriate facility standards.
• Represent ALS on work-planning matters with LBNL organizations, other national laboratories, external organizations, and auditing agencies, and participate in relevant professional conferences as appropriate.
• Recommend improvements to policies, procedures, and work processes affecting maintenance, installation, modification, and operational activities at ALS.
• Provide work leadership to the Facility Management and Safety Administrator and help establish priorities, expectations, and coordination of assigned work.
• Occasionally be tasked with emergency work planning duties outside of normal business hours or on weekends for major equipment failures that affect facility operations.

In Addition to the Responsibilities Above, at Level 5 You Will:

• Serve as the Work Planning Subject Matter Expert for ALS and ALS-U, providing expert guidance on work-planning strategy, processes, and execution in support of ALS objectives.
• Lead the resolution of complex and unusual work-planning challenges that require advanced analysis, independent judgment, and consideration of technical, organizational, personnel, and situational factors.
• Develop and strengthen cross-organizational partnerships and formal networks to coordinate work and resolve issues across groups and divisions.
• Exercise significant independence in determining approaches, methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria for complex or unique assignments.
• Provide oversight of fall-protection subject matter experts and/or scaffolding inspection activities, as applicable.

We are looking for:

Level 4:

• Bachelor's Degree or a minimum of 8 years of equivalent work experience working in an accelerator environment or similar technical facility.
• Extensive knowledge of work planning principles, safety requirements, and regulatory standards, such as DOE regulations and Integrated Safety Management (ISM) principles, related to work planning and execution in complex technical or research facilities.
• Substantial experience with project planning, workflow management, multi-group work coordination, work order system or other work management system.
• Must have demonstrated experience in applying initiative and judgment and be solutions-oriented with a customer service focus.
• Demonstrated experience planning complex shutdowns, outages, turnarounds, maintenance windows, or other time-constrained work involving multiple technical disciplines and competing operational priorities.
• Excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability in the development, documentation, implementation, and communication of work processes and/or procedures to further divisions objectives and principles.
• Working knowledge of safety related to accelerator/research facilities.
• Ability to provide effective collaborations among a diverse group of operations, technical, administrative and scientific staff as well as facilities personnel and outside contractors, preferably at a national laboratory
• Demonstrated effective oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent general computer literacy.
• Demonstrated experience developing equipment asset hierarchies, turnover documentation, and preventive maintenance programs within a computerized maintenance management system (MAXIMO preferred) .
• Experience with scheduling software and principles including dependencies, milestones, resource loading, etc. (P6 and MS Project).
• Experience leading the work of others.
• Ability to establish, respond to, and change workload priorities as required.
• Demonstrated initiative and ability to plan, anticipate and identify needs, assess and resolve complex problems.
• Experience working with scientific staff, technical staff, and with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with all constituents including senior internal and external stakeholders and customers.
• Proven excellent organization and multi-tasking skills, and ability to work in a fast-paced environment to independently establish priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Advanced verbal and written communication skills to clearly and effectively communicate with divisional leaders, managers, staff, and other stakeholders. Demonstrated skills to develop organization-level and other high-impact communications and presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead diverse project teams.
• Flexibility to perform other duties as assigned/needed.

Additional requirements for level 5:

• Bachelor's Degree, preferably a Master's Degree, or a minimum of 12 years of equivalent work experience working in an accelerator environment or other technical facility.
• Demonstrated ability to perform work independently, determining methods and procedures on new or special assignments.
• Ability to develop solutions to unique problems where analysis requires an evaluation of intangibles.
• Experience managing contracts and navigating procurements.
• Experience as a power user of MAXIMO and extensive working knowledge of system capabilities.
• Power user of scheduling software platforms (P6 and MS Project).
• Proven problem-solving skills and analytical ability to recommend and implement solutions to complex problems in creative and effective ways.
• In executing all work is able to use independent judgment in methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria for obtaining results.
• Consistently exercises sound judgment and independent decision-making to achieve positive results in an environment characterized by increased workload, complexity, and risk.

Desired skills/knowledge:

• Master's Degree.
• Knowledge of LBNL-specific policies, procedures, and work planning processes.
• Supervisory and performance management experience.
• Technical expertise in electrical or mechanical systems.
• Project management experience.
• Supervise or lead additional staff.
• Participate in the following:
  • Reviews of ALS Procedures
  • ALS Training Programs
  • ALS Division committees and working groups as appropriate to your skills and Division needs
  • Lab-wide committees and working groups as appropriate to your skills and Lab needs.

Additional information:

• Application date: Priority consideration will be given to candidates who apply by November 29th, 2026. Applications will be accepted until the job posting is removed.
• Appointment type: This is a full-time career appointment, exempt (monthly paid) from overtime pay.
• Multi-level Posting: This position will be hired at a level commensurate with the business needs and the skills, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate.
• Salary range:
  • The expected salary for the level 4 position is $147,456 - $180,204, which fits into the full salary of $131,076 - $221,160 depending upon the candidate's skills, knowledge, and abilities. This includes education, certifications, and years of experience.
  • The expected salary for the level 5 position is $186,576 - $228,036, which fits into the full salary of $165,876 - $279,864 depending upon the candidate's skills, knowledge, and abilities. This includes education, certifications, and years of experience.
• Background check: This position is subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment.
• Work modality: Work will be primarily performed at: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA. A REAL ID or other acceptable form of identification is required to access Berkeley Lab sites (for more information click here).
• Work authorization: Candidates must be eligible to work in the U.S. at the time of hire.

Why join Berkeley Lab?

We invest in our employees by offering a total rewards package you can count on:

• Exceptional health and retirement benefits, including pension or 401K-style plans
• Opportunities to grow in your career - check out our Tuition Assistance Program
• A culture where you'll belong - we are invested in our teams!
• In addition to accruing vacation and sick time, we also have a Winter Holiday Shutdown every year.
• Parental bonding leave (for both mothers and fathers)
• Pet insurance

Want to learn more about working at Berkeley Lab? Please visit: careers.lbl.gov

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer: The foundation of Berkeley Lab is our Stewardship Values: Team Science, Service, Trust, Innovation, and Respect; and we strive to build community with these shared values and commitments. Berkeley Lab is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We heartily welcome applications from all who could contribute to the Lab's mission of leading scientific discovery, excellence, and professionalism. In support of our rich global community, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories under State and Federal law.

Misconduct Disclosure Requirement: As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer. For additional information, click here.