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Associate Director for Finance and Budget Officer

Department of Energy
Department of Energy - Agency Wide
Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

Summary

ARPA-E advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private sector investment. ARPA-E is seeking an Associate Director for Finance who will lead ARPA-E's efforts to identify, assess, and resolve financial issues and policy matters, with a view to facilitating program planning and execution.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
04/02/2026 to 05/18/2026
Salary
$191,544 - $228,000 per year
Pay scale & grade
ER 3
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
26-AA-ER-12927734-PO
Control number
863699100

Duties

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In this role, you will support the ARPA-E executive leadership team on all financial matters and oversee all budget formulation, execution, and evaluation activities for the agency. The Associate Director for Finance has a tremendous impact on the energy innovation community through the technologies ARPA-E supports with the intent to disrupt today's systems and transform how the United States generates, stores, and uses energy. As an agency, ARPA-E values innovation, flexibility, creativity, collegiality, and a passion for its energy mission, while striving to be a "flat organization" with a limited management hierarchy.

ARPA-E's Associate Director for Finance (ADF) serves as the Chief Financial Officer for ARPA-E and fulfills the agency's responsibilities for the planning, analysis, justification, control, and reporting of all fiscal resources to plan, develop and carry out ARPA-E's goals, programs, objective and operations. The ADF provides executive leadership to ensure sound financial stewardship. The ADF also serves as the agency's Budget Officer and oversees annual budget formulation and justification processes ensuring that ARPA-E's needs are appropriately justified and effectively communicated across the Administration and to Congress. The ADF oversees the administrative control of all agency funds ($300-$400M per year) for effective use of ARPA-E resources, the agency's invoicing review process to ensure funded projects receive payment in a consistent and timely manner, and safeguards proper conduct of all accounting and financial operations in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

The ADF also supports the Deputy Director for Operations in the management and oversight of the ARPA-E organization and all assigned resources (including a contractor workforce) to ensure that the mission of ARPA-E is accomplished with consistency in policy, direction, and compliance with overall Departmental policy, goals, and objectives. The ADF also oversees all aspects of ARPA-E IT systems and serves as the system owner for those systems.

As one of ARPA-E's leaders, the ADF works with the Director and Deputy Directors to execute the agency's mission consistent with the overall program strategy, including consideration for the high-risk nature of the work. These transformational R&D projects and programs are performed by companies, academic institutions, research foundations, industry collaborations, consortia, and other qualified R&D entities to develop new technologies to supply the United States (and the world), with affordable, reliable, and secure energy.

The ADF must possess strong management skills, have deep knowledge of government financial systems and procedures, and have experience working as a senior member of an executive leadership team.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

PRE-HIRING REQUIREMENTS:
CITIZENSHIP: You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You must pass a background investigation.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT: If you are selected for this position, you will be required to file this report prior to entry on duty in accordance with the Ethics of Government Act of 1978.
TRIAL PERIOD: You may be required to complete a one-year or two-year trial period. If the position is supervisory, you must also complete a 1-year supervisory probationary period, to be served concurrently.
SELECTIVE SERVICE: If you are a male born after December 31,1959, you must be registered with the Selective Service registration. To learn more about this law, visit the Selective Service web page, Who Must Register.
E-VERIFY: New employees will be required to pass the employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

This is an Excepted Service position. If you are selected, you would have to compete with other applicants in open competition to meet requirements for a Federal position in the competitive service, unless you meet the requirements for reinstatement. Applicants who voluntarily convert from the competitive service, Senior Executive Service, or other pay systems to a appointment under this excepted service authority do not have guaranteed placement back to the pay system assigned prior to conversion.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

  • 15+ years of experience in finance, accounting, or audit as an operational leader in a technology-focused organization
  • Deep experience with federal government budget formulation and execution
  • Mastery knowledge in accounting/finance operations in a federal government environment
  • Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to clearly communicate financial and technical ideas and concepts to a wide-range of audiences
  • Demonstrated interest/expertise in energy and energy technologies
  • US Citizenship is required

Education

An advanced degree in a relevant discipline is required or a bachelor's degree plus a relevant certification.

Additional information

The Department of Energy is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

  • Veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit the links at the bottom of the page or visit the FedsHireVets website. For information regarding veteran's eligibility to apply: visit Veteran's Information
  • OF-306: You may be required to complete an OF-306, "Declaration for Federal Employment" form used to (a) determine your suitability for Federal Employment and/or (b) in conducting an investigation to determine your suitability or ability to hold a security clearance.
  • The selecting official may need to consult Departmental ethics counsel to determine whether any of your former or current employers, affiliations, or financial holdings conflict with your ability to perform the duties of this position. If necessary, ethics counsel will work with you and the hiring office regarding potential mitigation strategies, if available.
  • You may be approved for hiring incentives in accordance with agency policy and if funding is available.
  • This is a non-bargaining unit position.
  • Applications contain information subject to the Privacy Act (PL 93 579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.
  • The Fair Chance Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged non-compliance by completing the Fair Chance Act Intake Form and submitting it to the Administrative Investigations Program at AdministrativeInvestigations@hq.doe.gov.
  • This is a term-limited position for an initial 3-year term with the opportunity to extend by mutual agreement.
  • This position is based at ARPA-E headquarters in Washington, D.C. (fully remote and routine remote work is not possible).
  • The Associate Director for Finance is a full-time federal employee, is paid a competitive salary, and receives full federal benefits.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

For further information about this position, please visit: Associate Director Position.

Department of Energy - Agency Wide

Agency contact information

ARPA-E Jobs
Email
ARPA-E-jobs@hq.doe.gov
Address
Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
Department of Energy
Human Capital Shared Service Center
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Department of Energy - Agency Wide, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://arpa-e.energy.gov/careers/careers-at-arpa-e

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