Product Innovation Specialist

Argonne National Laboratory is seeking a Product Innovation Specialist in the Strategic Transportation Education & Partnerships (STEP) Department to serve as the primary venture builder, mentor, and startup coach for the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge, while also adapting and scaling entrepreneurial methodologies across STEP’s broader advanced energy and transportation workforce portfolio. Operating at the intersection of deep-tech engineering and early-stage venture incubation, this role focuses heavily on cultivating "T-shaped" innovators, students who possess both deep engineering expertise and broad entrepreneurial capability. A core objective is to break the traditional "build-it-first" engineering legacy by enforcing rigorous, evidence-based customer discovery utilizing proven frameworks like NSF I-Corps and Lean Startup.

The Product Innovation Specialist will work hand-in-hand with 20 university teams, serving as a dedicated mentor and professor providing continuous office hour support, offline reviews, and real-time troubleshooting. By meeting students where they are and guiding them through the complex process of R&D commercialization, the selected candidate will help students successfully transition from academic learners to capable industry professionals. Ultimately, this role develops stakeholder-aware engineers capable of navigating integration roadblocks, weighing technical tradeoffs against business value, and building solutions positioned for market success.  

Job Responsibilities:

Product Innovation Track (PIT) Leadership:

• Coach participating EcoCAR Innovation Challenge teams through the venture-building process, helping them transition from a "build-it-first" mentality to a problem-first, evidence-based approach.
• Train students in rigorous lean startup methodologies designed to uncover actual user behaviors and workflows, actively preventing teams from simply seeking validation for preconceived solutions.
• Guide teams in defining the innovation space based on technical constraints, then use customer evidence to prioritize applications and guide product design.
• Evaluate student concepts and business models, steering teams through structured stage gates to develop defensible exit strategies or Go/Pivot/Hold decisions.
• Cultivate an industry sponsor cohort to serve as a formal Innovation Advisory Council, acting as a board of advisors for student teams throughout Years 2–4 to provide real-world venture guidance and investor connections.
• Mentor students on market validation, competitive analysis, and translating complex technical value propositions into compelling pre-seed pitches for industry stakeholders.
• Architect future problem spaces, define the Year 2–4 gated venture structures, and integrate industry sponsors to secure critical resources for student ventures.

STEP-Wide Innovation Strategy:

• Cross-pollinate Lean Startup, customer discovery, and venture-building frameworks across STEP’s broader advanced energy and transportation portfolio to enhance the commercial relevance of the department's applied research.
• Contribute to the design of new programs, pilot efforts, and grant proposals that align STEP’s workforce mission with emerging technology commercialization priorities.

Position Requirements

• Experience with hypothesis-driven development, business model iteration, and structured Lean Startup methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and challenge highly technical engineering students, successfully guiding them through commercial and strategic business frameworks to cultivate "T-shaped" capability.
• Demonstrated initiative, sound judgment, organizational ability, and capacity to manage multiple concurrent activities.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to prepare technical reports, presentations, training materials, and publications.  
• Strong operational discipline and project management skills to maintain a high-frequency coaching and evaluation tempo across 20 parallel university teams.
• Ability to work effectively across technical, programmatic, and external partnership settings.
• Ability to model Argonne’s Core Values: Impact, Safety, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork. 
• Travel requirements for this role are 10%–15% (20–30 nights annually), concentrated around key milestone events.
• This position requires an on-site presence at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois.

The selected candidate will be placed at the appropriate level (PT2 or PT3) depending upon depth and breadth of relevant knowledge, skills, and experience brought to the position.  The requirements for the desired levels are as follows:

• PT2 Level: Bachelor’s degree and 2+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, product management, engineering, or a related field.
• PT3 Level: Bachelor’s degree and 4+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, product management, engineering, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with the Desirability, Feasibility, Viability (DFV) framework to objectively evaluate concepts and guide them through evidence-based stage gates.
• Sufficient technical fluency in advanced engineering sectors (e.g., electrification, autonomy, connectivity, or systems integration) to accurately pressure-test the engineering feasibility of student hardware and software concepts. Note: An automotive background is helpful but not required, as the long-term goal is to have the PIT framework replicated in non-automotive programs as well.
• Direct experience operating in deep-tech, academic tech-transfer, or hardware startup environments where navigating the gap between advanced R&D and commercial viability is a primary focus.
• Experience managing student accelerators, incubators, or multi-stakeholder innovation pipelines involving university, government, and corporate partners.
• Ability to act as a strategic conduit, connecting early-stage ventures or departmental programs with critical external resources and industry mentors.

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Please note that the pay range information is a general guideline only. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as, but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, business considerations, internal equity, and external market pay for comparable jobs. Additionally, comprehensive benefits are part of the total rewards package.

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As an equal employment opportunity employer, and in accordance with our core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity and teamwork, Argonne National Laboratory is committed to a safe and welcoming workplace that fosters collaborative scientific discovery and innovation. Argonne encourages everyone to apply for employment. Argonne is committed to nondiscrimination and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law.