Why pre-screen green hydrogen specialists before the technical panel
This sector has produced a great many feasibility studies and a much smaller number of running plants, which makes the resumes hard to read. A specialist can spend three years on announced projects that never reached financial close and describe the same technologies as someone who commissioned a stack and watched its efficiency degrade. The distinguishing evidence is whether anything they worked on produced hydrogen, and what it cost per kilogram.
What actually matters when screening Green Hydrogen Specialist candidates
- 01
Technical depth
Probe depth on electrolyser technology: PEM versus alkaline versus SOEC stack design, current density and cell voltage curves, balance of plant, LCOH modelling, ISO 22734 and ATEX zoning.
- 02
Work that shipped
Ask which hydrogen assets they took from FEED to commissioning: MW capacity, offtake agreement, renewable PPA coupling, compression and storage, plus actual production versus nameplate.
- 03
Diagnosis under uncertainty
Test how they chased faults such as membrane crossover, unexpected stack voltage drift, deioniser water quality issues, or hydrogen purity failing ISO 14687 grade specification.
- 04
Working across the org
Look for work with grid operators, EPC contractors, HSE regulators, and offtakers on permitting, subsidy schemes (RED III, 45V, hydrogen contracts for difference), and safety cases.
Pre-screening questions to ask Green Hydrogen Specialist candidates
12 questions grouped by what they test. Ask the same set in every screen and score answers on a consistent scale, or send them as an async video screen and compare answers side by side.
Electrolysis and plant
3 questions01What experience do you have with electrolysis technologies for hydrogen production?
Listen forNamed technologies with the trade-offs in efficiency, ramp rate and water quality, tied to a selection they actually made.
Technologies listed with no trade-offs, or selection driven entirely by a supplier's recommendation.
02How do you compare hydrogen storage methods on efficiency and cost?
Listen forCompression, liquefaction and carrier options weighed with the energy penalty of each stated, matched to a real duty cycle.
Storage discussed without the round-trip energy cost, or one method treated as generally superior.
03What is your experience with hydrogen fuel cells and their applications?
Listen forPractical work with a stated application and honest limits, including purity requirements the production side has to meet.
Fuel cells described in principle, or no awareness that feed purity constrains the whole production chain.
Projects that operated
3 questions04Can you describe a project where you implemented green hydrogen solutions?
Listen forA project that produced hydrogen with capacity stated, plus what changed between the design case and actual operation.
Feasibility studies presented as delivered projects, or work on schemes that never reached financial close.
05What is your approach to optimising the efficiency of a hydrogen production system?
Listen forMeasured efficiency over time with stack degradation acknowledged, and a specific change that improved output or consumption.
Efficiency quoted from a datasheet, or no awareness that stack performance declines with operating hours.
06Can you describe your experience with hydrogen transportation and logistics?
Listen forReal handling arrangements with the regulatory and practical constraints named, including who took the volume and how.
Offtake treated as solved, or no experience of the logistics between production and the customer.
Safety in practice
3 questions07What safety protocols do you follow when handling hydrogen systems?
Listen forDetection, ventilation and separation distances described as design decisions they made, not standards they can cite.
Safety described as certification obtained, with no design consequence they can point to.
08How do you address hydrogen leakage in the systems you work with?
Listen forAwareness that hydrogen escapes through joints other gases hold, with detection strategy and a leak they actually found.
Leakage treated as a commissioning issue only, or no monitoring in place during ongoing operation.
09How do you conduct risk assessments for hydrogen projects?
Listen forA structured process with a hazard that changed the layout, and a clear view on what the assessment could not quantify.
Risk assessment described as a document produced, with no design change that followed from it.
Honest economics
3 questions10How do you evaluate the economic feasibility of a hydrogen project?
Listen forA cost per kilogram with the dominant input named, plus a project they advised against because the numbers did not hold.
Costs quoted as industry ranges, or no project they have recommended not proceeding with.
11What strategies do you use to reduce the cost of hydrogen production?
Listen forLevers named with their real weight: electricity price, utilisation, capital cost, rather than efficiency improvements alone.
Cost reduction framed entirely as better technology, with no attention to power price or utilisation.
12Have you been involved in partnerships or collaborations on hydrogen projects?
Listen forWork across offtakers, grid operators and regulators, with a specific negotiation or approval that shaped the project.
Partnerships listed as logos, or no engagement with the offtake and grid connection side of a project.
How to score responses
Score every candidate on the same four criteria immediately after the screen. At this stage you are shortlisting for panel interviews, not making the final call.
Technical depth
35%5Talks fluently about stack degradation rates, specific energy in kWh per kg, and where their LCOH assumptions came from.
Work that shipped
30%5Names commissioned plants with MW ratings, availability figures, and honest gaps between design output and delivered kilograms per day.
Diagnosis under uncertainty
20%5Reconstructs a purity or degradation investigation with data logs, isolated variables, and the corrective action that held over months.
Working across the org
15%5Cites permits secured or subsidy applications won, and describes translating stack physics for financiers and planning authorities.
This sector has far more announced projects than operating ones, and the resumes read alike. A one-way video screen asks what actually produced hydrogen.
Try it on HirevireScreening FAQ
Process basics
How long should a pre-screening round for a hydrogen specialist take?
Fifteen minutes across eight to ten questions, answered async. Enough to establish which electrolyser technologies and scales they have worked at, separate studies from operating projects, and hear how they handle hydrogen safety.
What should the screen establish beyond technology familiarity?
Whether anything reached operation. Ask directly what produced hydrogen and at what scale. Feasibility work is legitimate experience and it does not teach what a stack does after two thousand hours, which is where the sector's difficulties live.
Evaluating answers
What is the strongest signal when screening for green hydrogen?
A cost per kilogram they can name for a real project, with the assumptions behind it. Specialists who have been through financial close know which input dominates and how sensitive the number is. Those who have not quote industry ranges.
How do I judge safety answers without a process background?
Ask what a design decision cost them. Hydrogen's small molecule size, wide flammability range and invisible flame drive real constraints: detection, ventilation, separation distances. Standards recited with no design consequence mean safety was somebody else's job.
Go deeper on this role
Sanat has been hiring since 2012 and watching the recruitment industry change up close ever since, and turned that screening process into Hirevire's video screening platform. LinkedIn
