After being in the works for approximately a year, the Department of Energy yesterday finalized the reorganization of the Oak Ridge Operations Office. The new structure entails the heads of the three main program operations at Oak Ridge—the Office of Science, the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Science—reporting directly to their DOE headquarters’ organizations. “This eliminates a layer of management, expedites decision making, and results in decisions being made at the lowest level in the organization consistent with best management practices,” Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said in a message to DOE employees yesterday.
The reorganization also “realigns the ORO Integrated Support Center (ISC) functions into business units to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the service support operations,” according to Chu’s message. The Oak Ridge Operations Office manager position, for which a search is underway to fill, will continue to report directly to the DOE Office of Science and “maintains responsibility and accountability for the ORO ISC matters and the ISC functional managers continue to report to the Manager,” Chu said. The new structure for the Oak Ridge Operations Office was proposed last summer by then-acting Manager Paul Golan as a cost savings measure. Golan has since returned to his previous role as head of the DOE office for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. “The new organizational structure is postured to fully support the success of the Oak Ridge future mission. I would like to thank those who have worked on this reorganization and recognize a job well done,” Chu said.
Jobs