One of the largest employers in the C.S.R.A. is looking for engineers across multiple departments onsite.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) held a job fair at the North Augusta Community Center to connect managers and applicants.
“SRNS has done multiple events like this in the past. This is the first one for this fiscal year that we’ve done. But we typically try to do these twice a year to try to attract talent in different categories or different job descriptions that we have or need help in filling,” Carla Wheeler, Engineering Staffing and Development Manager, told ABD.
Patrick Evans, Senior PR/PI Specialist with SRNS, said the job fair is one step to attracting new talent for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is taking over management of the facility.
“We’re trying to get more talent in there to kind of pivot us in the right direction for that right now. So, the job fair is our first step to doing that,” Evans explained. “We’ve got to get the talent first. We want to get this talent so we can go to local high schools, and area colleges, and say here’s what we’re doing over at the site. This is a place where you can work at, a place where you can retire at, so you can build a whole lifestyle around the Savannah River Site. We want to give back to our community, more economic opportunities, more ways for people to just be present in the CSRA.”
The transition from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to NNSA was announced in an October 2022 news release:
“EM currently manages SRS and continues to lead a comprehensive environmental cleanup onsite. As EM efficiently and safely completes its cleanup work toward a defined end state, NNSA’s nuclear security mission continues to increase onsite. As a result, DOE and NNSA have jointly decided to transition primary responsibilities to NNSA through a joint planning and transition process,” read the announcement.
Ten tables were set up in the Community Center’s banquet room, each providing information about the assortment of openings, including software engineering, design engineering, and operational technology.
Wheeler said the assortment is important because it is based on the facilities, and different missions, onsite.
“Everybody does a little bit different flavor of engineering, but really it’s just depending on where your interest lies and what type of engineer you want to be or become,” she said. “A lot of skills are transferable, so people can move around in the organization. These are just our main groupings of engineering jobs that we have available for those different facilities and missions.”
Some attendees, including Patrick Conley of Martinez, had on-the-spot interviews with managers from the respective divisions. Conley is a mechanical engineer and U.S. Navy submarine veteran with experience in the nuclear industry.
“Nuclear power is my passion, been in it for almost 30 years, various positions,” he said. My son works at the site now; he’s a mechanical engineer as well. So, I really just want to get back into the nuclear field and work for some more years. I’ve got a lot of good years left in me, so that’s why I’m here today to reemerge.”
Conley also checks off one of the ideal candidate boxes as someone who has served in the military. Metro Augusta is home to a large community of military retirees, many of whom may be looking for a new second chapter in their lives.
Anyone unable to attend the job fair can learn more about open positions and apply at
https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/Home/Home?partnerid=25264&siteid=5259#home or https://www.savannahrivernuclearsolutions.com/careers/careers.htm
