The Department of Energy (DoE) is moving its chief of staff, Alex Fitzsimmons, to head the agency’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).
Fitzsimmons, who has been serving as chief of staff since January, will now lead efforts to strengthen, expand and secure the U.S. energy system as part of the department’s broader push to upgrade infrastructure and ensure energy resilience, the Energy Department announced on May 2.
According to his LinkedIn account, Fitzsimmons has not previously held any clear cybersecurity-related positions.
“The race for global leadership in AI is the new Manhattan Project, and winning this race depends on our ability to increase access to abundant supplies of reliable, affordable energy and build secure infrastructure,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a statement.
“Alex has served as a critical leader across the Department in our first 100 days, and his expertise and ability to take on complex problems make him the right person to spearhead this important office,” he continued.
Fitzsimmons previously served as the Energy Department chief of staff under the first Trump administration, from July 2017 to September 2019. He also served as the acting deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency from June 2019 to November 2020.
He most recently came from Sila Nanotechnologies before joining the second Trump administration, where he led global government relations and public policy initiations for the “next-generation battery materials” company, according to his LinkedIn.
His other experience in industry included serving as a policy associate and director at the non-profit public policy group Institute for Energy Research, and as the senior director for renewable energy, energy storage, and advanced manufacturing at ClearPath, a non-profit focused on reducing global emissions.