Human Factors Engineer

Oklo•Santa Clara, CA

10h•$100,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

Oklo is seeking a Human Factors Engineer to lead the development and implementation of our Human Factors Engineering (HFE) program. This role is pivotal in ensuring that HFE principles are systematically and effectively incorporated into the design. The successful candidate will play a central role in shaping human-system integration outcomes that support operational safety, reliability, and usability from early design and through deployment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in human factors engineering, cognitive systems engineering, industrial engineering, or a related field.
Experience performing HFE program management, analysis, design, verification and validation, and implementation.
Familiarity with HFE regulatory requirements (e.g., NUREG-0711, NUREG-0700).

Nice To Haves

Hands-on operations experience—nuclear or non-nuclear—is strongly preferred. Examples include plant operations, control room environments, industrial or manufacturing settings, or other real-world operational contexts.
Experienced in human factors engineering, with a strong understanding of how people interact with systems in complex, safety-critical environments.
Deeply passionate about clean energy and committed to making advanced fission a reality through innovative, practical design.
Eager to learn quickly, absorb new information, and adapt in a dynamic, fast-moving environment.
Willing to challenge conventional approaches and explore new methods to solve difficult problems effectively and safely.
Thrives in a fast-paced, iterative startup culture that values speed, creativity, and resilience.
Excited to think critically, creatively, and reflectively about design challenges—balancing rigor with out-of-the-box thinking rather than relying solely on past precedents.
Comfortable proposing novel and impactful solutions to technical problems that benefit operators, users, and systems.
Skilled in writing clear, concise, and compelling technical content in a modern, active voice.
Confident in presenting ideas and technical results clearly to cross-disciplinary teams, leadership, and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain Oklo’s HFE program, execution plans, and compliance strategies.
Provide technical recommendations for internal and external engineering design teams as it pertains to human factors.
Ensure human factors principles are effectively and systematically incorporated into the engineering design process to support safe, intuitive, and efficient human-system interaction across all project phases.
Contribute to internal and external design reviews, presenting HFE assessments and advocating for human-centered improvements in design and operations.
Analyze and recommend improvements for plant layouts, user interfaces, procedures, and other human-system interfaces. Support the development of specifications that reflect human capabilities and limitations.
Identify and document operator and technician needs, functional tasks, and system use requirements through task analysis, workload evaluation, and scenario modeling.
Plan and execute HFE verification and validation activities, staffing studies, and human-system interface usability assessments. Ensure outcomes align with safety, licensing, and performance goals.
Organize and coordinate efforts across engineering disciplines and external stakeholders (clients, partners, suppliers) to support cohesive system design, interface integration, and HFE implementation.