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…