Engineering Manager

Kyoto Fusioneering America • Oak Ridge, TN

22d • Onsite

About The Position

This Engineering Manager role is with Kyoto Fusioneering America's (KFA), KF's U.S. subsidiary. It is KFA's primary engineering delivery leader in the United States. In the near term, this role is focused on the design, delivery, and commissioning of UNITY-3, an accelerator-based deuterium-tritium fusion neutron source for breeding blanket testing. Over time, the role will expand to encompass other KFA engineering delivery programs, ranging from breeding blanket demonstrators to other first-of-a-kind (FOAK) engineered systems. Across all programs, the Engineering Manager owns four essential execution functions: design coordination and code compliance; engineering process governance and configuration management; schedule awareness and mitigation; and cost awareness. This position reports functionally to the Head of Engineering and operates within a matrixed project structure, interfacing directly with the relevant technical area leads, project lead(s), and Project Director on each assigned program. An Engineering Manager may be assigned to one or more programs concurrently, with program-specific scope, deliverables, and time allocation defined at assignment. The role requires regular collaboration with KF's Japanese staff, U.S. National Laboratories, and other domestic and international project partners.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering (Mechanical, Nuclear, Systems, or a closely related discipline).
• 10+ years of experience delivering complex, safety-critical engineered systems in nuclear, aerospace, DOE, or other highly regulated environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering and project teams, including management of subcontractors and cross-organizational partners.
• Strong command of engineering design, fabrication, test and validation, and commissioning processes for large-scale technical systems.
• Experience establishing and enforcing engineering workflows, governance structures, and design authority frameworks in a regulated project environment.
• Demonstrated experience with formal engineering change control: change request documentation, impact assessment, approval routing, and baseline traceability.
• Experience tracking cost and schedule performance against a budget or estimate; ability to identify and communicate impacts and drive mitigation decisions.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to work effectively across organizational and cultural boundaries.
• Ability to make clear, sound decisions under uncertainty and pressure in a mission-critical environment.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Additional eligibility requirements, which may include U.S. person status, may apply.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with accelerator systems, high-voltage power systems, vacuum systems, or nuclear and/or radiological facility construction.
• Familiarity with tritium or radioactive material handling requirements, including DOE radiological control standards.
• Knowledge of relevant U.S. and international engineering standards: ASME BPVC, NFPA, NEC, IEEE, and DOE nuclear safety order series.
• Experience with EPC.
• Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the United States or eligibility within one year.
• Experience structuring or operating within public-private partnership projects at national laboratories.
• Experience managing FOAK projects with significant integration complexity and schedule pressure.
• Experience working within DOE national laboratory environments and/or under DOE project management frameworks (DOE O 430.1C).
• Prior exposure to international fusion research programs.

Responsibilities

• Own design coordination across engineering disciplines, ensuring a coherent, integrated design basis is established, verified, and maintained from concept through commissioning.
• Ensure all engineering work meets applicable codes, standards, and facility requirements (for UNITY-3: DOE O 430.1C, ASME BPVC, NEC, NFPA, and site specific safety, electrical, mechanical, structural, environmental rules).
• Own the code-compliant design package handoff to construction teams and verify field execution matches approved design.
• Establish and enforce engineering workflows, governance structures, design authority frameworks, formal change control processes, and configuration baseline management across all projects.
• Maintain visibility of project schedules, critical path, and resource planning.
• Detect delays early, escalate promptly, and drive corrective actions to keep programs on track.
• Track engineering cost and resource labor-hours performance against budget; identify and communicate cost impacts from design changes, delays, or scope variations; drive cost-conscious decision-making within technical constraints.
• Own quality of all engineering deliverables and ensure compliance with QA protocols, site-specific safety requirements, and DOE quality assurance standards.
• Build and lead multidisciplinary engineering teams; manage subcontractors, vendors, and cross-organizational partners.
• Serve as primary KFA interface with partner’s chief engineers, represent KFA in governance meetings, and support business development for future programs.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
• Up to 26 Days of PTO (20 vacation days and 6 sick days) annually
• 12 paid company holidays
• Paid sick leave available for all employees.
• Covered paid time off is also provided for bereavement, voting, and up to 10 days for jury or witness duty.
• Unpaid, job-protected leave options for medical needs, pregnancy disability, and military service.
• Retirement savings plan (401k) with company matching contributions.
• Potential stock options.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager