The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Monday it has selected a longtime Department of Energy manager to lead its field office for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Michael Weis comes to Los Alamos after nearly 25 years with the department, most recently as site office manager for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, according to his LinkedIn profile. He will start work at Los Alamos in January, the NNSA said in a press release.
The Los Alamos Field Office administers the management and operations contract for the expanding portfolio at the storied nuclear-weapon lab. It has roughly 90 employees and had a $17.6 million budget in 2018.
Prior Field Office Manager Steven Goodrum retired on Sept. 30. Deputy Field Office Manager Gabe Pugh has held the position on an acting basis since then. Pugh will remain deputy manager once Weis comes on board.
“I am excited to have Mike join the NNSA team and look forward to his contributions to NNSA’s missions and people,” NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty said in the release. “I am confident Mike will do an outstanding job overseeing our world class laboratory.”
The agency did not discuss details of the selection process for the new field office manager.
“The selection process was a rigorous one, and was managed by NNSA’s Office of Executive Resources,” an agency spokesman said by email. “All merit system principles were followed.”
As site office manager at Fermi since January 2011, Weis is responsible for “operations, delivery of government services and approvals, as well as, real estate and landlord functions at largest Office of Science Laboratory in the United States,” his LinkedIn profile says. Fermi’s budget is roughly $400 million per year.
Previously, Weis served as site office manager for DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and deputy manager for the Hanford Site’s Richland Operations Office, both in Richland, Wash. He also spent time in Washington, D.C., as DOE associate deputy assistant secretary for project completion. Weis began his career at the department in 1995 as a performance assessment manager for closure of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado.
Triad National Security holds the current Los Alamos management contract, which with options would be worth about $20 billion through 2027. The contractor is a joint venture of Battelle, the University of California, and Texas A&M University.
