Control Systems Architect – IFE

Xcimer Energy•Denver, CO

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Xcimer Energy is hiring a Control Systems Architect for its Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program. The role defines the control system architecture for the company’s fusion power plant and develops it from concept through detailed design. Working as the hands-on engineering counterpart to the program’s control systems director, the architect translates plant-level control philosophy into architecture, interface definitions, and design baselines. The role also contributes controls and instrumentation engineering to major plant systems, including the laser, fusion chamber, fuel processing, and power conversion systems, as their designs mature. The position is part of the Electrical & Control Systems Engineering department and requires independent judgment on complex, first-of-a-kind problems, with work reviewed against program objectives. It is a full-time, onsite role at Xcimer’s Denver, Colorado headquarters, with 10–20% travel between the headquarters and the program’s future plant site. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or nationals, current U.S. permanent residents, or lawfully admitted refugees or individuals granted asylum.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related STEM field.
Typically 10+ years of relevant control systems engineering experience for large, multi-subsystem facilities such as power plants, process plants, accelerators, or large laser or research facilities, including ownership of system-level or architecture design.
Working knowledge of industrial control architectures, including PLC or DCS and safety instrumented systems, SCADA/HMI, industrial networks, and plant historians.
Experience developing control requirements, interface control documents, control narratives, and architecture descriptions through formal design reviews.
Ability to work independently on complex, loosely defined problems and communicate architecture decisions clearly to engineers, scientists, and leadership.
Willingness to travel 10–20% between Xcimer’s Denver headquarters and the program’s future plant site.
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree.
Experience with nuclear or other licensed facilities, including safety classification, defense in depth, and instrumentation and control qualification.
Experience with functional safety lifecycle work (IEC 61508/61511), SIL allocation, and cause and effect design.
Experience with precision timing and triggering, high-speed data acquisition, or pulsed power controls.
Experience with OT cybersecurity (IEC 62443) and segregated control network design.
Hands-on experience with Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens, Rockwell, or EPICS-class control platforms, and with Python or LabVIEW for test automation.

Responsibilities

Define and maintain the plant control system architecture, including safety, real-time, and supervisory control layers; network segmentation; precision timing and triggering; and plant data capture, documenting the design in architecture descriptions and control narratives.
Develop control system requirements and interface definitions between the plant control system and major plant systems, and carry them through gated design reviews and change control.
Contribute hands-on controls and instrumentation design within other plant systems, including I/O and signal definitions, control sequences, interlocks, and operating modes.
Evaluate and select control platforms, protocols, and standards, and build prototype or testbed implementations to retire architecture risk early.
Support the program’s control systems director with trade studies, technical analyses, design review materials, and staffing and schedule inputs for the control system scope.