Joblaze summary

The Cycle Performance Engineer at Valar Atomics focuses on developing and maintaining thermodynamic models for advanced turbomachinery systems, collaborating with various teams to optimize cycle design. Key skills include experience with thermodynamic solvers and a solid background in mechanical or aerospace engineering, ideally with a master's degree. This role is suited for engineers with a few years of experience who thrive in dynamic environments and are eager to influence design decisions from the ground up. As an early hire, the engineer will play a crucial role in shaping the future of clean energy technology.

Joblaze insights

Listed about 2 months ago — first seen on Joblaze September 3, 2026. Last confirmed on Valar Atomics's careers page November 2, 2026.
Salary band is in line with the typical range for comparable tech roles (median ~$130,000).
Starts above 85% of 61 comparable mid other roles in United States that list Mechanical Engineering we track (median $100,000 across 14 companies). See Mechanical Engineering salary trends
Mechanical Engineering appears in 4.3% of 3245 comparable mid other roles in United States; turbomachinery appears in 0.1% of 3245 comparable mid other roles in United States.

Quick facts

Is the Cycle Performance Engineer - Turbomachinery role remote?: No — this is an on-site role in Torrance, California, United States.
What's the salary range?: Valar Atomics lists $140,000–$215,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?: At least 3 years of relevant experience for this Cycle Performance Engineer - Turbomachinery role.
Where is the role based?: Valar Atomics is hiring for this position in Torrance, California, United States.
What's the tech stack?: Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Thermodynamics, turbomachinery.
Does Valar Atomics sponsor work visas for this role?: Yes — the posting indicates visa sponsorship is available for the right candidate.
What seniority level is this role?: Valar Atomics targets mid-level candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?: Full-time for this Cycle Performance Engineer - Turbomachinery role at Valar Atomics.

From the original posting

The Team

As part of the Engineering organization, Power Conversion develops the technologies that efficiently transform reactor-generated heat into usable electrical power. The team focuses on maximizing system performance, reliability, and commercial viability.

The Role

Valar Atomics is seeking a turbomachinery aerodynamics engineer to join the turbomachinery team and advance power generation capability. In this role, you’ll be responsible for the cycle performance modeling for cutting edge turbomachinery. You’ll be working with cross-functional team members to define a high efficiency, highly producible cycle design. As an early hire in turbomachinery, you will be able to directly influence design decisions on the system architecture.

Key Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a thermodynamic model of the power conversion system
Aggregate, interpret and integrate the contributions of component owners into the overall cycle model
Partner with turbomachinery, secondary flow, and heat exchanger owners to input their component performance into the system model
Define instrumentation plans to calibrate the cycle model to tested results
Evaluate system level trades to drive the cycle to the optimal business outcome

You Will Be Successful in This Role If

You are excited to be a part of a complex turbomachinery product from the beginning
You thrive in ambiguous environments without defined turbomachinery design best practices
You want to be part of turbomachinery design beyond a singular aerodynamic, structural or manufacturing perspective

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
3 years experience in analyzing thermodynamic cycles in a thermodynamic solver (NPSS, Aspen, GateCycle, Flownex, EES, etc.)

Preferred Skills and Experience

Master's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
Experience with modeling closed cycles
Test experience with turbomachinery
Experience with supercritical C02
Experience analyzing turbomachinery at a component design level

Salary

$140,000—$215,000 USD

Standard company text repeated across Valar Atomics's postings is omitted here.

Cycle Performance Engineer - Turbomachinery

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