Nuclear I&C Development Operations Engineer

PARAGON ENERGY SOLUTIONS LLC•Cranberry Township, PA

About The Position

Paragon is seeking a Development Operations Engineer to support the development, verification, configuration management, cybersecurity controls, and lifecycle maintenance of FPGA‑based products used in nuclear safety‑related applications. This role includes responsibilities for maintaining a Secure Development and Operational Environment (SDOE) in accordance with nuclear cybersecurity requirements such as NRC Regulatory Guide 5.71, NEI 08‑09, and plant‑specific defensive architecture policies. The engineer develops internal tools, evaluates external tools, improves workflows, manages defect resolution, and maintains audit‑ready documentation aligned with standards including 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, IEC 61508, IEEE 7‑4.3.2, and ASME NQA‑1.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Experience with FPGA design workflows including VHDL/Verilog.
Hands-on experience with Intel Quartus, Xilinx Vivado, ModelSim/QuestaSim, and Simulink.
Experience with configuration management systems such as Subversion (SVN) and Git.
Experience working within SDOE, CIP, or other regulated cybersecurity environments.
Strong scripting abilities (Python, Bash, PowerShell, Matlab).
Understanding of nuclear-industry QA processes and configuration control expectations.
Ability to interpret timing reports, simulation logs, block diagrams, and verification artifacts.
Excellent written communication and documentation skills.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of NRC RG 5.71, NEI 08‑09, and cybersecurity programs for digital I&C.
Experience maintaining isolated or air‑gapped engineering networks.
Experience with toolchain qualification, trusted distribution, and cybersecurity configuration management.
Familiarity with nuclear regulatory frameworks such as 10 CFR 73.54 and IEEE 7‑4.3.2.

Responsibilities

INTERNAL TOOL DEVELOPMENT
Develop and maintain internal tools, scripts, dashboards, and automations supporting FPGA design and nuclear safety documentation.
Automate tasks related to requirements traceability, verification workflows, build/test orchestration, data packaging, and simulation report generation.
Support internal frameworks built around Subversion (SVN), Git, and CI/CD tooling.
Ensure tools comply with nuclear-quality obligations such as auditability, reproducibility, configuration control, and verification independence.
EXTERNAL TOOL ASSESSMENT & INTEGRATION
Evaluate engineering tools including Simulink, Intel Quartus, Xilinx Vivado, ModelSim/QuestaSim, and workflow automation platforms.
Perform cyber‑impact assessments for introducing or modifying tools within the SDOE.
Lead supplier qualification, cybersecurity posture evaluation, and tool reliability reviews.
Integrate approved tools into controlled design networks with appropriate SDOE documentation.
BUG REPORTING & ISSUE MANAGEMENT
Establish systematic processes for logging, triaging, reproducing, verifying, and tracking defects affecting FPGA tools or workflows.
Collaborate with hardware/FPGA engineers, verification engineers, cybersecurity teams, and QA.
Maintain traceable audit records consistent with nuclear QA and SDOE monitoring requirements.
Identify recurring issues and propose long‑term corrective actions or automation‑based mitigations.
WORKFLOW PROCESS OPTIMIZATION
Improve engineering workflows including model‑based design, HDL design, simulation, synthesis, timing analysis, regression testing, and configuration reviews.
Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines adapted to nuclear‑qualified toolchains and restricted SDOE networks.
Ensure workflow alignment with SDOE requirements including role‑based access control, logging, network separation, and artifact integrity.
Support periodic SDOE reviews including cybersecurity assessments, environment hardening, and toolchain validation.
SDOE INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE
Manage the Secure Development and Operational Environment (SDOE) used for nuclear safety FPGA development.
Maintain controlled networks, secure repositories, isolated build servers, and toolchain validation environments.
Coordinate with IT teams to maintain system patches, whitelisting, and defensive architecture controls.
Ensure all development and operational workflows conform to SDOE technical and procedural requirements.
DOCUMENTATION & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Create and maintain documentation for tooling, FPGA workflows, SDOE procedures, cybersecurity controls, and configuration‑controlled processes.
Produce training materials and onboarding guides supporting safe engineering practices in the SDOE.
Ensure documentation remains compliant with NQA‑1, nuclear cybersecurity plans, and licensing expectations.