Benji Smith has over 20 years of business operations and finance experience at ORNL, managing multi-year, high-dollar budgets and funding cycles, overseeing audits and risk reduction, and providing leaders with budget forecasting and other financial guidance to support sound decision-making. He leads a team of business managers who support all ORNL directorates with comprehensive financial management that includes funds control and allocations, cost analysis, account oversight, budget planning, and business systems. He also represents ORNL Business Operations to Department of Energy officials, translating complex cost models into practical budget strategies to support the lab’s long-term research goals.
Before he was named director of the BSD’s Business Operations Division in 2025, Smith headed the division’s Financial Planning group, leading the team of finance professionals who work with senior managers in all ORNL directorates to provide strategic financial counsel, guide budgeting and forecasting, and support regulatory compliance, reporting and risk management.
Smith joined ORNL in 2004 and served as a financial analyst in the Energy and Environmental Sciences and Biological and Environmental Sciences directorates before being tapped to lead the Financial Planning group in 2021. Skilled in leading high-performing teams, he prioritizes mentoring emerging leaders and strengthening financial transparency.
He holds an MBA from Auburn University and earned his B.A. in psychology with a minor in business administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is a 2016 alumnus of the Battelle Leadership Program.
