Mission Engineer

Antares•Los Angeles, CA

6d•$112,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

As a key member of the Mission Engineering team, you will lead programs across commercial, defense, and real-world microreactor missions—both on Earth and in space. You will serve as the primary point of contact for a broad range of stakeholders, driving the development and deployment of Antares systems to meet mission needs. You will operate at the intersection of systems engineering and business development, bridging technical product development with operational execution supporting capture and execution of contracts and funding opportunities. Qualifications include strong engineering and physics fundamentals—particularly in thermodynamics, energy systems, aerospace, and engineering economics—with demonstrated proficiency in systems-level thinking and high technical rigor across disciplines. You will own product integration into operational end-user environments. Responsibilities include managing project costs, schedules, deliverables, and translating user feedback into actionable internal requirements. You will be expected to contribute to internal product development to ensure Antares’ systems can meet mission objectives—including deployment logistics, facility interface definition, transportation requirements, commissioning, and decommissioning of nuclear systems. Success in this role requires a generalist mindset, cross-disciplinary problem-solving, and relentless focus on delivering value to our customers. The ideal candidate has direct experience interfacing with, or working within, DoD/DOE and understands government procurement processes, is comfortable with the technical details of complex aerospace or defense systems and can communicate effectively across all associated engineering disciplines.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (mechanical, aerospace, nuclear, systems, etc.), physics, or applied science.
3+ years of experience in complex, safety-critical or defense/aerospace programs with accountability for cost/schedule/technical performance and formal review gates.
Systems engineering proficiency and agile best practices in deep technology, with demonstrated cross-disciplinary systems thinking for complex technical systems.
Strong foundations in thermodynamics/thermofluids, energy systems, and engineering economics, with experience developing or integrating hardware in energy, automotive, nuclear, or aerospace.
Strong communication and technical writing skills, with pragmatic, business-minded decision-making that links technical choices to commercial outcomes.
Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones.
Ability to travel to customer and mission-relevant locations as needed.
Ability to obtain a Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance is preferred.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD in an engineering field.
Proficiency in Python for numerical/multiphysics work and familiarity with modern toolchains (Git and CI/CD)
Experience in transportation logistics.
Experience with government sponsors (DoD, DOE, NASA, USAF/USSF) and a track record of winning proposals and contracts or high impact / ROI contributions.
Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for problem-solving, and a desire to optimize modern nuclear design and operation.
PMP or other relevant professional project management certification.
Excellent negotiation, conflict resolution, and leadership skills.
Leadership experience on a project or research team.
Experience working in a start-up environment.

Responsibilities

Lead delivery for customer-facing programs—owning cost/schedule/quality, contractual compliance, and milestone execution—while driving engineering collaboration across disciplines and internal/external reviews to align stakeholders and ensure mission success.
Establish closed-loop requirements management that connects customer feedback to engineering design inputs and maintains alignment with user requirements and intended use cases.
Ideate and propose new development programs to DoD and DOE sponsors, and support proposal development and contract acquisition by drafting technical content, interface requirements, operational use case descriptions, and system performance justifications.
Perform market/use-case analysis and CONOPS research and develop internal technical roadmaps to ensure product readiness for specific deployments and customer mission needs.
Lead and contribute to system architecture and interface specifications for strategic energy applications, ensuring that engineering decisions incorporate business considerations and cost-benefit tradeoffs across design, integration, and delivery.