Director of Risk and Opportunity

Type One Energy Group•Knoxville, TN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Risk & Opportunity will serve as a key organizational leader responsible for defining, implementing, and maturing the enterprise-wide and program-level risk and opportunity management framework for Type One Energy. Operating as a central function within the Program Management Office (PMO), this individual will architect and manage the processes, systems, and governance structures that enable the company to effectively identify, assess, quantify, prioritize, track, and mitigate risks across all major programs—including Fusion Direct, Infinity1, and Infinity2. The Director will ensure that risk is translated into financial impact, enabling leadership to understand cost exposure, required reserves, and trade-offs required to deliver Infinity One on budget and on schedule. This role is critical in safeguarding the company’s capital efficiency strategy by proactively identifying, quantifying, and mitigating risks that could impact total project cost and delivery timelines. In addition to leading the risk and opportunities approach, this role will include leading the “Design to Coat” initiatives across Fusion Direct to include Infinity1 and Infinity2. In this role, the design‑to‑cost leader will drive cost‑optimized product development by embedding cost‑focused thinking into engineering, design, supply chain, and program management processes. This role ensures products meet customer requirements at the lowest total cost, while maintaining performance, safety, and quality standards. This role will partner cross‑functionally to develop cost models, lead value engineering initiatives, and influence early‑stage design decisions that shape product cost and competitiveness.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, business, finance, or related field.
10+ years of experience in risk management within complex engineering, R&D, aerospace, defense, or energy environments.
Demonstrated experience developing and managing risk registers, QRAs, and mitigation planning.
Demonstrated experience in construction-phase risk management and large program delivery.
Strong understanding of project management, EVM, baselining, and systems engineering concepts.
Strong analytical skills with proficiency in risk analysis tools (e.g., @RISK, Primavera Risk Analysis, Safran Risk).

Nice To Haves

Experience in fusion energy, nuclear, or advanced energy systems.
Experience supporting PMO maturity efforts or process development.
Familiarity with DOE project management structures and risk requirements.
Certification in risk management (RMP, PMI-RMP) or project management (PMP).

Responsibilities

Own and lead the risk and opportunity management function across Type One Energy, with primary focus on Infinity One program execution and construction.
Lead the development of a fully integrated cost risk framework.
Establish risk management as a core decision-making discipline, embedded across engineering, construction, procurement, and program leadership.
Serve as the central authority on programmatic risk posture, advising executive leadership on exposure, mitigation strategies, and trade-offs.
Drive cost-risk trade-off analysis, enabling leadership to make informed decisions on design, procurement, and construction strategies.
Oversee the risk workflow including identification, analysis, quantification (qualitative and quantitative), prioritization, mitigation planning, and closure.
Facilitate working sessions with engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and operations teams to identify technical, schedule, cost, and integration risks.
Develop risk registers for major programs, ensuring clear traceability to program baselines and milestones.
Support Earned Value Management (EVM) performance analysis by correlating risk exposure with cost/schedule performance.
Conduct periodic risk reviews, readiness assessments, and risk health checks with program leadership.
Lead the development and execution of quantitative risk analyses (QRA) including Monte Carlo simulations for schedule and cost impacts.
Integrate results into baseline development, Estimate at Completion (EAC) models, and decision-making processes.
Provide data-backed recommendations to inform mitigation strategies and management reserves.
Establish a structured opportunity management process to identify potential improvements in cost, schedule, performance, or design.
Work with engineering and operations leadership to evaluate opportunity feasibility, value, and implementation paths.
Track opportunity benefit realization and incorporate outcomes into program plans and performance reporting.
Maintain risk governance processes aligned with contract, regulatory, and quality requirements.
Support major phase gate reviews, baseline reviews, and independent project assessments.
Drive continuous improvement of risk and opportunity management processes, tools, and cultural adoption across the company.
Develop and lead the organization's Design‑to‑Cost strategy across programs and product lines.
Drive early‑phase cost planning during concept and architecture definition.
Provide executive‑level visibility to cost risks, opportunities, and trade‑offs.
Partner with Engineering, Product Management, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance to integrate cost targets into requirements and design gates.
Identify key cost drivers and recommend actionable design changes or sourcing strategies.
Track and validate cost‑reduction performance against program targets.
Lead cost‑driven design reviews at key development milestones.