Post-Doctoral Fellow, Advanced Multi-Scale Building Energy Research Group, Mechanical Engineering

State of Colorado; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible health and dental care

13 paid holidays

Fully vested retirement plan

Tuition benefits

Free RTD Ecopass

Job summary

The Colorado School of Mines is seeking a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering to lead field-scale energy research combining real-world deployments with advanced control strategies. The role focuses on battery energy storage systems (BESS) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) bidirectional chargers, spanning public and commercial sites across Colorado.

Ideal candidates hold a PhD in electrical or mechanical engineering, with strong background in power systems and

Qualifications

• PhD in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or a relevant area with a strong background in power systems and controls, and field testing or implementation.
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex topics to nontechnical participants and listen to participants' questions and concerns.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Ruby, or MATLAB.

Responsibilities

• Lead the real-world field deployment and experimental commissioning of residential BESS and commercial V2X pilot sites across Colorado.
• Develop, physically implement, and validate controls for BESS and V2X chargers to maximize energy cost savings for households and provide resilience.
• Derive data-driven insights from high-resolution field telemetry across 30+ residential and commercial sites, quantifying economic value, battery degradation, and grid impact metrics.
• Publish results in high-impact journals

Skills

Power systems

Controls

Field testing

Python

Ruby

MATLAB

Education

PhD in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Job description

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines is seeking applications for a post-doctoral researcher to lead cutting-edge, field-scale research within the Advanced Multi-Scale Building Energy Research Group (https://amber.mines.edu/ ) to perform high-impact research. This high-impact initiative bridges theory advancement and real-world deployment and validation. The project aims to advance distributed control architectures, grid-edge flexibility, and resilience, and demonstrate potential energy cost reductions and community-scale benefits through battery energy storage systems (BESS) implementation, exploring how BESS can enhance grid and residential resilience. It involves installing, controlling, and analyzing BESS and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) bidirectional chargers across more than 30 homes and a community center in Colorado.

Candidates should have proven expertise in power systems and controls related to residential battery energy storage and/or electric vehicle chargers. This is a one-year position with the possibility of extension for a second year.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the real-world field deployment and experimental commissioningof residential BESS and commercial V2X pilot sites across Colorado
• Develop, physically implement, and validate controls for BESS and V2X chargers to maximize energy cost savings for households and provide resilience.
• Derive data-driven insights from high-resolution field telemetry across 30+ residential and commercial sites, quantifying economic value, battery degradation, and grid impact metrics.
• Publish results in high-impact journals

Additional responsibilities

• Research Mentorship: Mentor graduate and/or undergraduate students
• Proposal & Project Development: Gain competitive career development experience through participation in future DOE and federal grant proposal formulation.
• Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or a relevant area with a strong background in power systems and controls, and field testing or implementation
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex topics to nontechnical participants and listen to participants' questions and concerns
• Strong programming skills in Python, Ruby, or MATLAB

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or a relevant area with a strong background in power systems and controls, and field testing or implementation
• PE in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering
• Fluent in Spanish

Potential Environmental Conditions/Hazards:

• Part of this job will require the candidate to be on-site when BESS and/or V2X are installed by contractors
• Candidate should be able to move around the City of Denver and around Colorado to ensure all systems are working properly

TOTAL REWARDS

Salary Rate: $65,000-$70,000 annually

Mines takes into consideration a combination of candidate’s education, training and experience as well as the position’s scope and complexity, the discretion and latitude required in the role, work location, and external market and internal value when determining a salary level for potential new employees.

Benefits: Colorado School of Mines offers a robust portfolio of benefits for all employees. For this role, that includes:

• Flexible health and dental care options
• Generous sick/vacation time: 13 paid holidays per year – including a week-long winter break for the entire campus.
• Fully vested retirement plan on first day of employment, with generous employer contribution
• Tuition benefits (6 credits per year for employees, 50 percent discount for dependents)
• Free RTD Ecopass for regional bus and lightrail

All Mines employees also have access to discount programs through the State of Colorado and free tickets for Mines Athletics home games, as well as access to the state-of-the-art Recreation Center (fitness classes and training, swimming pool and more) and equipment rentals through the Outdoor Rec Center. We are proud to have an on-campus daycare center. For more details about benefits at Mines, visit mines.edu/human-resources/benefits.

About Mines & Golden, CO

When the world looks for answers, the world looks to Mines.

Colorado School of Mines is a top-ranked public university solving the grand challenges facing our society, particularly those related to the Earth, energy and the environment. Founded in 1874 with specialties in mining and metallurgy, Mines’ scope and mission have continually expanded to meet the needs of industry and society. Today, we are the No. 40 public university in the nation, recognized for our innovation and undergraduate teaching in science, technology engineering and math (U.S. News and World Report, 2026).

Mines graduates are change makers, boundary breakers and problem solvers. Since our earliest days, a Mines education has been and continues to be a transformational opportunity, with one of the strongest returns on investment out there for talented STEM students of all backgrounds.

At the same time, Mines faculty members are pushing their fields in new directions, whether that’s manufacturing, space resources, quantum engineering, carbon capture or more. Mines was recently classified as a R1 “Very High Activity” research institution by Carnegie, a notable feat for any university but particularly one of our size.

That size – roughly 8,200 undergraduate and graduate students – also translates to a close-knit campus community, where employees have opportunities to get involved in multiple ways, continued professional learning is valued and everyone can make an impact.

Community Alliance groups bring together employees for professional development, networking, and community involvement, and all Mines employees also have access to the wealth of activities happening every day on campus – nationally-renowned speakers, special events and Mines traditions like Engineering Days, just to name a few.

And don’t get us started on our hometown. We are located in the heart of Golden, Colorado --with its charming historic downtown and nearby hiking trails – and in close proximity to all that Denver and the Rocky Mountains have to offer. That includes the sunny, high-altitude climate and outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities that make the Denver area an ideal place to live, work and play.

Are you looking for an inspiring, mission-driven workplace where you can contribute to solving the world’s problems and educating the next generation of change makers? Are you an individual who values a community where our individual perspectives and experiences enrich the educational and work experience?

Look to Mines.

Colorado's premier engineering and applied science university for 150 years and counting