Radiation Shielding Engineer

Ocean Atomics

1d • $95,000 - $220,000

About The Position

Ocean Atomics is an American company designing, licensing, and assembling a standardized nuclear electric power plant and the surrounding support systems for maritime applications. We will install these plants on any vessel built to our nuclear-ready standards, and will provide end-to-end sustainment in our planned nuclear lifecycle dockyard. We will help develop the licensed operators to unlock this new capability for your energy intensive application at sea. To move fast and to lead the creation of this new market, we are leveraging the compact, proven systems enabled by water-cooled reactors.

Our mission
Scale nuclear energy. Power generations.

Our vision
A maritime commons thriving with abundant, economical, modern, and safe nuclear-powered activity — built, serviced, and staffed by re-industrialized American shipyards and people.

As Radiation Shielding Engineer, you design and analyze radiation shielding for the reactor, primary systems, and surrounding compartments aboard the vessels that carry our nuclear electric plant, keeping dose rates within limits for crew, equipment, and the public. Every configuration also has to work within the realities of shipboard construction: modular geometries, manageable component weights, and sequencing that fits real build and outfitting schedules. Getting this right is what lets a reactor live safely alongside a crew — the difference between shielding that works in an analysis and shielding that works at sea.

This is a role we're hiring at multiple levels (L1 through L4). The work is shared across levels; scope and accountability scale with experience.

This work suits someone who treats a shielding calculation as a decision with real consequences for crew and schedule alike, not a box to check before the design moves on.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Direct experience designing and analyzing radiation shielding for reactor or other high-radiation systems.
• Proficiency with radiation transport codes (MCNP, SCALE, etc.) and shielding/source-term methods.
• Familiarity with shipboard or other space- and weight-constrained installation environments.
• Early-career engineers with shielding or radiation transport analysis exposure through internships, coursework, research, or early-career roles (for L1-L2).
• Have led at least one complete shielding design cycle through design review, in commercial nuclear, naval reactors, or comparable regulated environments (for L3-L4).

Nice To Haves

• Background in naval architecture, marine engineering, or vessel-borne system design.
• Experience with first-of-a-kind reactor designs or SMR programs.
• Advanced degree in nuclear engineering or health physics.

Responsibilities

• Design and analyze radiation shielding for the reactor, primary systems, and surrounding compartments using transport, Monte Carlo, and hybrid methods.
• Perform dose-rate and source-term calculations across operating, shutdown, and accident conditions to verify compliance with occupational and public dose limits.
• Develop shielding arrangements optimized for shipboard installation — modular geometries, manageable component weights, access for handling equipment, and compatibility with build and outfitting sequences.
• Coordinate with our structural, layout, and construction teams to integrate shielding into the ship arrangement and resolve weight, space, and installation trade-offs.
• Document shielding designs, analyses, and as-built configurations, and support design reviews, licensing, and certification deliverables.
• Lead shielding trade studies that shape ship arrangement and construction sequencing decisions (at L3-L4).
• Mentor newer engineers and review their transport and dose-rate analyses (at L3-L4).
• Interface directly with our regulatory team on NRC-facing shielding documentation (at L3-L4).
• Drive resolution of weight, space, and schedule conflicts between shielding and structural design (at L3-L4).

What This Job Offers

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