Investigations
Dept. of Energy Official to Retire From Fermilab Oversight Role Amid Federal Workforce Reductions
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Michael Kappel / flickr)
The senior-level federal employee charged with supervising operations at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is ending his tenure, WTTW News has confirmed through the Department of Energy Office of Science.
Roger Snyder, who worked at DOE for more than three decades, will retire in 2025 from the Fermi Site Office in Batavia after leaving in May, amid a massive federal workforce reduction by the Trump administration.
“The Department of Energy thanks Roger Snyder for his years of dedication,” a spokesperson from the DOE wrote in a statement. “DOE will appoint an interim site officer to maintain continuity and uphold the lab’s critical mission while the search for a permanent site officer is conducted.”
Fermilab is managed by the Fermi Forward Discovery Group, a group that consists of the University of Chicago and other firms. The site manager, Snyder’s role, is a federal official who works closely with the laboratory’s director.
Roger Snyder (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Site managers oversee contract execution and manage risk on behalf of DOE leadership, while supervising those who authorize funding and work based on input from field offices or headquarters.
Snyder’s tenure as interim site manager at the Fermi Site Office began in 2020 at a time of financial stress as Fermilab was developing major projects including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which stretches to South Dakota. Some of these efforts have been criticized for serious cost overruns and delays.
Snyder took over the position with Fermilab permanently in 2022, the third person to hold the site manager job in four years.
Snyder previously worked as manager at the Argonne National Laboratory site office in Lemont on an interim basis. He also served at the site offices of Pacific Northwest, Princeton and Los Alamos national laboratories.
His exit follows the February executive order from President Donald Trump to reduce the federal workforce by the Department of Government Efficiency, and the deferred resignation program it offered to employees across government including the DOE. Reports said DOE employees received resignation offers near the end of March.
A spokesperson from the Office of Science would not comment on ongoing personnel actions nor identify a timeline for a new site manager to be named at Fermilab. The spokesperson said the interim acting site office manager will allow for seamless operations until the permanent position is filled.
A Reuters report from April said more than 2,600 DOE employees accepted the most recent buyout proposal from the federal government.
Multiple employees were critical of Snyder’s management at Fermilab for reasons including overhead costs and unpopular operational changes. Many also worry about the timeline for picking those in key leadership roles at Fermilab.
The site manager vacancy follows closely behind recent high-profile departures from Fermilab. Lia Merminga resigned as director in January, when Young-Kee Kim was announced as interim director at the laboratory.
Contact Jared Rutecki: @JaredRutecki | [email protected]
