At Berkeley Lab, groundbreaking science relies on an exceptional workforce. The Human Resources Division serves as a strategic partner, helping guide the Lab’s collective commitment to people stewardship.
We focus on attracting and retaining exceptional talent in a highly competitive landscape while developing programs that grow professional capabilities and deepen employee engagement. We are dedicated to supporting our leaders and cultivating a culture of excellence that directly aligns with the Lab’s mission and core values. From your first day through every stage of your career journey, HR is here to support your work and growth.
How We Partner with Our Lab Community
To ensure every employee feels supported, valued, and positioned to contribute to the mission, our division actively engages across the Lab to:
- Attract & Retain Exceptional Talent: We design modern talent strategies to source, hire, and retain world-class personnel in a competitive labor market.
- Build a Stable People Foundation: We interpret, advise, and create a solid foundation for complex regulations affecting our workforce, putting them into action through practical workplace guidelines that mitigate risk and sustain scientific continuity.
- Provide Strategic Partnership & Solutions: We act as critical problem-solvers working alongside employees and leaders to navigate complex people challenges, offer perspectives that turn hurdles into solutions, and apply dynamic workforce planning to respond to shifting funding and program needs.
- Grow Capability & Engagement: We develop robust programs that advance careers, cultivate leadership, grow supervisory skill sets, and deepen employee engagement so that everyone is positioned to succeed.
Vision
Our partnerships and contributions enable leading edge science by positioning Berkeley Lab as an employer of choice for now and into the future.
Mission
Human Resources develops and implements essential programs that empower our people by fostering a culture of excellence in support of the Lab’s Stewardship values and mission.
HR Leadership
Wade Crosson
Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Human Resources
wmcrosson@lbl.gov
Wade Crosson is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Berkeley Lab. With 25+ years of strategic and operational HR leadership across the public and private sectors, Wade leads the Lab’s HR Division, overseeing talent management, labor relations, compensation, benefits, and HR business systems. Since joining the Lab in 2003, he has served in key leadership roles—including HR Division Deputy and Interim CHRO—driving service optimization, policy improvements, and strategic staffing. Wade holds a B.S. in Business Management from San Francisco State University.
Karen Jonas
Total Rewards Manager, Human Resources
kjonas@lbl.gov
Karen Jonas is the Compensation and Benefits Manager and a member of the HR Leadership Team at Berkeley Lab. Karen brings 15+ years of experience across health-tech, healthcare, and financial services, where she has contributed to the design and implementation of competitive reward programs to enable the recruitment and retention of top talent. Karen holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Marcia Ocon Leimer
HR Deputy, People & Talent Strategies, Human Resources
mocon_leimer@lbl.gov
Marcia Ocon Leimer is the HR Deputy, People & Talent Strategies at Berkeley Lab, bringing 15+ years of experience advancing talent strategy, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, employee relations, and workforce planning in complex scientific and operational environments. She is passionate about creating workplace experiences where both people and organizations thrive. Marcia holds an M.A. in Leadership from Saint Mary’s College, with a concentration in Coaching for Organizational Learning and Change. Outside of work, she enjoys music, dance, travel, trying new recipes, and a great cup of coffee.
Sachin Jadhav
HR Systems & Analytics Manager, Human Resources
sjjadhav@lbl.gov
Sachin Jadhav is the HR Systems and Analytics Leader at Berkeley Lab, with 30+ years of experience in HR technology, Human Capital Management (HCM), workforce analytics, and automation strategy. Since joining the Lab in 2010, Sachin has led enterprise initiatives across UCPath/PeopleSoft, Taleo, People Analytics, data governance, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and Workday. Partnering closely with HR, IT, Finance, and University of California system teams, he champions scalable, data-driven HR solutions that strengthen governance, streamline operations, and transform workforce data into actionable insights.
Jake Hurley
Employee & Labor Relations Manager, Human Resources
jmhurley@lbl.gov
Jake Hurley is the Employee and Labor Relations Manager at Berkeley Lab. An attorney with 20+ years of public-sector HR and labor relations experience, Jake leads collective bargaining, grievance administration, workplace investigations, arbitrations, policy development, and executive advising. His work centers on fairness, clarity, and practical problem-solving to help leaders and employees navigate complex workplace issues constructively. Outside of work, Jake and his wife, Carol, are parents to two whippets, Tommy and Jasper. He is also an avid coffee roaster, a devoted Harry Bosch fan, and enjoys history and travel.
Pat Johnson, Ed.D.
HR Business Operations & Services Manager, Human Resources
triciajohnson@lbl.gov
Patricia Johnson, Ed.D., is the HR Business Operations and Services Manager at Berkeley Lab, where she leads the HR Solutions Center and the HR Process & Projects Office. With 20+ years of operational and strategic leadership experience—primarily in the financial services sector—she focuses on driving operational excellence, managing key initiative projects, and enhancing cross-functional processes to align HR service delivery with strategic goals. Her core expertise includes Lean Six Sigma methodologies, business process design, and operational oversight. Dr. Johnson holds an Ed.D. in Organization & Leadership from the University of San Francisco, an M.B.A. from Fordham University, and a B.A. from New York University.
