Engineering Lead, Fuel Cycle
About The Position
As Helion’s Fuel Cycle Engineering Lead, you will guide a multidisciplinary team of engineers responsible for architecting, designing, and delivering the fuel cycle systems that will enable Orion, Helion’s next-generation fusion power plant. You will set the technical direction for core technologies in the fuel cycle involving a variety of separation, vacuum, and cryogenic processes, ensuring they integrate seamlessly into Orion and future fusion platforms. In this role, you will also accelerate Helion’s risk-reduction efforts by identifying and leading projects to address critical technology risks and evaluate emerging fuel cycle approaches. Your leadership will influence the strategy, execution, and growth of Helion’s fuel cycle capabilities as we scale toward commercial fusion. This is an onsite role that reports directly to the Fuel Cycle Manager at our Everett, WA office.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field
- 5+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years in an engineering leadership role
- Experience designing, delivering, and integrating pilot- or commercial-scale process systems
- Experience managing a multidisciplinary engineering team in a fast-paced environment
- Experience balancing design work, validation testing, and development projects in parallel
- Strong record of mentorship with demonstrated ability to coach and develop engineers
- Hands-on familiarity with chemical, mechanical, thermal and/or fluid systems engineering
- Comfort operating in a startup environment with change, ambiguity, and rapid execution
Responsibilities
- Lead, develop, and empower a multidisciplinary team of engineers owning the architecture, design, procurement, installation, and validation of Orion’s fuel cycle systems
- Drive design risk reduction by partnering with the Fuel Cycle Operations and R&D teams to test and validate design assumptions on in-house pilot scale systems and Polaris, enabling confident system delivery
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Special Projects, Mechanical, Electrical, Controls, and broader engineering teams to define interface requirements, deliver fully integrated system designs, and delegate work appropriately
- Set the standard for design excellence by developing and reinforcing robust processes for fuel cycle system design reviews, bills of design, risk analyses, and mitigations, and management of change
- Translate strategic goals into actionable objectives, managing month-to-month planning, schedules, and priorities to ensure reliable and on-time delivery of high-impact projects
- Mentor and grow engineering talent, fostering technical depth, accountability, and career development
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
- 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
- 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
- Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
- Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
- Annual wellness stipend
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
