Program Officer - of Gulf Energy Systems; Legacy Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Overview

In 2013, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine established the Gulf Research Program (GRP) to enhance energy system safety and the protection of human health and the environment in the Gulf Coast region and other U.S. outer continental shelf areas. The GRP seeks to improve understanding of the region’s interconnecting human, environmental, and energy systems and apply this knowledge to benefit communities and ecosystems in the Gulf Coast and other regions with offshore energy production or potential in the outer continental shelf of the United States.

This position is for a Program Officer (PO) for the GRP’s Energy Unit, the Future of Gulf Energy Systems (FuGES). The PO is responsible for developing and managing one or more research programs or projects that align with the mission of the Gulf Research Program (GRP) in accordance with the GRP’s Strategic Plan and the settlement agreement. The incumbent develops program activities and ensures that they meet objectives, timelines, and budget.

Appoints and manages committees/panels and serves as staff liaison between committee/panel members, the GRP, and the National Academies. The PO position requires skills in project management, problem solving, research, analysis, technical writing, public speaking, meeting facilitation, and proficient oral and written communication with a broad range of audiences.

Successful candidates will have a working knowledge of the Gulf’s energy production and transportation landscape, and ideally, experience related to managing oil and gas infrastructure or with State and/or Federal agencies that regulate oil and gas operations. The incumbent will work in a team environment with expert volunteers from outside the institution and internal GRP and National Academies staff in executing programmatic activities, projects, or programs.

The incumbent will oversee FuGES’ legacy offshore oil and gas infrastructure workstream. The current objectives of this workstream are to:
1) advance regional understanding of the scale, impact, and risks associated with legacy oil and gas infrastructure,
2) advance risk assessment methodologies and tools to evaluate the potential environmental, public health, and economic hazards from abandoned wells, pipelines, and/or platforms,
3) build scientific understanding of environmental impacts associated with legacy oil and gas infrastructure, and
4) support cross-sector dialogue and collaboration among multi-state regulators, industry, researchers, non-profits, and communities. Types of projects the incumbent may oversee include fostering a community of practice to facilitate knowledge transfer among governmental entities, industry, non-profits, academia, and other groups around legacy offshore oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region; and developing funding opportunities to support the creation of inventories of legacy offshore oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region, as well as monitoring and modeling tools to assess environmental emissions associated with such infrastructure.

The incumbent is expected to carry out the roles and responsibilities of the job with minimal oversight by the Senior Program Officer.

• Manage the activities associated with the Legacy Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure workstream. Foster a community of practice with multi-state regulators, industry, researchers, non-profits, and communities through virtual and in-person meetings. Develop and oversee funding opportunities, manage review panels, oversee grant management.
• Identify priority issues related to abandoned offshore infrastructure, particularly relating to understanding the risk in near and offshore environments in the Gulf region. Identify areas of alignment and potential collaborative opportunities with ongoing or developing GRP activities.
• Design new programs within the Legacy Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure workstream including overseeing funding opportunities and working closely with state and federal agencies that oversee oil and gas infrastructure in the near- and offshore environments.
• Works with the Senior Program Officer to…