Jobs, jobs, jobs: what color is your biochute?
BIO says that up to 800,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created in advanced biofuels by 2022.
What jobs are there for you?
Recently, former LA Mayor Richard Riordan outlined the priorities. “Let’s look at the future. Whatever solution we have for our economy, the basic thing is jobs, jobs, jobs.”
One of the bright spots – by almost universal acclaim – is the prospect for clean energy jobs. But what does that exactly mean for you?
In today’s special Biofuels Digest Report on Jobs, we look at actual hiring data from the Biofuels Digest job board, plus BIO’s authoritative report on the projected economic impact of the expansion of advanced biofuels.
Our goal? To give you a personal roadmap – the when and what of job creation and job opportunity.
How many?
In a landmark 2009 study of the Renewable Fuel Standard and its impact, “US Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production: Perspectives to 2030,” Bio-era projected that 807,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created by 2022 – direct jobs accounting for 190,000 of the total.
Feedstock production and construction, unsurprisingly, dominate the jobs picture, with 87,000 and 67,000 jobs.
The remaining 36,000 split between direct processing, R&D and distribution – 23,000, 7000, and 6000, respectively.
What types of jobs?
Here at the Digest, we have been running our jobs board for going on two years – primarily in this early stage of the industry, carrying jobs related to the build-out of processing companies, and for R&D.
In the long term, we expect the hot jobs and entreprenurial opportunities to be in areas such as : baling systems and sales, ag residue pickup, storage and aggregation, algae protein shipping & distribution, pellet sales & distribution, forest slash pickup and storage, grease pickup, truck stops near integrated biorefineries, regional business development – third party services,
road maintenance and security for integrated biorefineries, RIN pricing services, and low-cost cellulosic sugar sales & distribution.
To date, we have carried 76 different job designations, and we found it fascinating to look at the jobs that you looked at (views), compared to the jobs that elicited an application (via web or email). Note: for privacy reasons, the Digest does not track, or analyze individual replies, just aggregate data.
Here are the jobs you viewed, in rank order by the level of interest you showed. This is indexed – where 100 means “average interest,” 200 means “double the average,” 50 means “half the average” and so on.
Ranked by jobs viewed
Process Engineer | 237 |
Business Development Manager | 215 |
Biodiesel Technology Process Engineer | 193 |
Senior Manager of Bioenergy Project Development | 183 |
Senior Process Engineer | 183 |
Consultant – Biomass Marketing | 180 |
Farm Manager | 178 |
Scientist I | 178 |
Fermentation Engineer | 174 |
Research Coordinator | 168 |
Business Development Officer | 157 |
Operations Manager, Ethanol | 153 |
Chief Executive Officer | 152 |
Bioprocess Development Scientist | 146 |
Plant Manager | 135 |
Process Engineering Director | 135 |
Vice President, US Business Development | 135 |
Research Associate | 133 |
Microbial / Phycological Production Manager | 130 |
Sr. Director of Engineering | 125 |
Senior Process Development Engineer | 124 |
Director of Molecular Biology | 122 |
Chemical Engineer | 118 |
Director of Corporate Affairs – North America | 116 |
Process Modeling Engineer | 113 |
Catalysis Engineer/ Group Leader | 111 |
Scientist, Microbial Physiology and Fermentation | 110 |
Algae Fractionation Pilot Plant Operations Manager | 109 |
SVP, Operations | 108 |
Technical Manager | 106 |
Sr. Director of Operations | 103 |
Vice President, Engineering | 101 |
Molecular Biologist | 98 |
Process Development Engineer I / II | 98 |
Research Ecologist | 96 |
Process Engineer – Area Specialist | 94 |
Product Manager | 93 |
Staff Scientist (Fungal Geneticist) | 92 |
Process Engineer, Biofuel Operations | 91 |
Biodiesel Refiner | 89 |
Senior Fermentation Engineer | 88 |
Postdoctoral Appointee – Algal Biofuels Research | 86 |
Senior Project Manager | 86 |
Chromatographic Separations Engineer/Group Leader | 85 |
Senior Business Analyst | 84 |
Staff Engineer | 79 |
Assoc. Dir., Project and Alliance Management | 78 |
Process or Chemical Engineer/ Construction Manager | 75 |
Agricultural Climate Change Economist, PhD level | 74 |
Communications Coordinator | 74 |
Senior Engineer | 73 |
Agronomy Advisor | 72 |
Capital Sales Manager | 70 |
Senior Manager, Product Management | 69 |
Sr. Process Development Engineer | 69 |
Methods Development Scientist, Analytics | 66 |
Project Engineer | 64 |
Senior Merchandiser | 63 |
Electrochemist/Research Scientist | 62 |
Maintenance Technician | 60 |
Lab Manager | 58 |
Sr. Research Associate, Microbiology | 58 |
Bio Resource Internship | 56 |
Field Technical Support | 56 |
Sr. Piping Designer | 54 |
Project Controls Manager | 54 |
BioProcessing Manager | 53 |
HR Generalist | 48 |
Synthetic Biology Manager | 47 |
Associate Director, Portfolio Planning and Analysis, IPD | 45 |
Electrical Project Engineer | 42 |
Chief Financial Officer | 40 |
Sr. Instrumentation & Controls Engineer | 38 |
Sr. Electrical Engineer | 31 |
Soy Merchandiser | 29 |
Product Development Director | 28 |
We note that, of the top 10, five were in engineering/project development, two in science, two in sales & marketing, and one in feedstock operations.
Ranked by jobs applied for
Here are the same job titles, indexed this time according to applications, not views. These are the jobs that, after review, you decided to go for. Again, indexed to a base of 100.
Business Development Officer | 511 |
Chief Executive Officer | 425 |
Business Development Manager | 330 |
Consultant – Biomass Marketing | 290 |
Farm Manager | 276 |
Biodiesel Refiner | 271 |
Process or Chemical Engineer/ Construction Manager | 262 |
Microbial / Phycological Production Manager | 258 |
Process Engineer | 244 |
Fermentation Engineer | 231 |
Process Engineering Director | 199 |
Agronomy Advisor | 199 |
Scientist I | 195 |
Vice President, US Business Development | 190 |
Staff Engineer | 172 |
Operations Manager, Ethanol | 163 |
Director of Molecular Biology | 154 |
Electrochemist/Research Scientist | 154 |
Senior Process Engineer | 136 |
Vice President, Engineering | 127 |
Staff Scientist (Fungal Geneticist) | 127 |
Senior Project Manager | 122 |
Plant Manager | 118 |
Chemical Engineer | 118 |
Sr. Piping Designer | 113 |
Product Manager | 109 |
Process Modeling Engineer | 100 |
Capital Sales Manager | 95 |
SVP, Operations | 90 |
Process Development Engineer I / II | 90 |
Director of Corporate Affairs – North America | 86 |
Scientist, Microbial Physiology and Fermentation | 86 |
Communications Coordinator | 81 |
Synthetic Biology Manager | 81 |
Senior Manager, Product Management | 68 |
Project Engineer | 68 |
Sr. Research Associate, Microbiology | 68 |
Assoc. Dir., Project and Alliance Management | 63 |
Sr. Director of Engineering | 59 |
Sr. Director of Operations | 59 |
Senior Engineer | 59 |
Bioprocess Development Scientist | 54 |
Biodiesel Technology Process Engineer | 50 |
Senior Manager of Bioenergy Project Development | 50 |
Catalysis Engineer/ Group Leader | 50 |
Senior Merchandiser | 50 |
Process Engineer – Area Specialist | 36 |
Postdoctoral Appointee – Algal Biofuels Research | 36 |
Field Technical Support | 36 |
BioProcessing Manager | 36 |
Product Development Director | 36 |
Research Associate | 32 |
Senior Process Development Engineer | 32 |
Process Engineer, Biofuel Operations | 32 |
Methods Development Scientist, Analytics | 32 |
Lab Manager | 32 |
Project Controls Manager | 32 |
HR Generalist | 32 |
Chief Financial Officer | 32 |
Algae Fractionation Pilot Plant Operations Manager | 27 |
Molecular Biologist | 27 |
Senior Fermentation Engineer | 27 |
Technical Manager | 23 |
Sr. Process Development Engineer | 23 |
Agricultural Climate Change Economist, PhD level | 18 |
Associate Director, Portfolio Planning and Analysis, IPD | 18 |
Sr. Instrumentation & Controls Engineer | 18 |
Research Coordinator | 14 |
Senior Business Analyst | 14 |
Maintenance Technician | 14 |
Chromatographic Separations Engineer/Group Leader | 9 |
Bio Resource Internship | 9 |
Sr. Electrical Engineer | 9 |
Soy Merchandiser | 9 |
Research Ecologist | 5 |
Electrical Project Engineer |
We note that, of the top 10, one was the CEO job, three were in engineering/project development, one in science, three in sales & marketing, one in biorefinery operations, and one in feedstock operations.
There was a clearly stronger uptick of interest in the jobs on the sales and management side, vs the science and engineering jobs. To us, that reflects the supply/demand differences between the two areas – clearly, engineers who understand bioenergy can afford to be more picky. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, at least, expects it to shake out this way – projecting that “Biochemist,” along with “biophysicist” will rank as the 9th fastest growing job in the US through 2018.
Category: Fuels