Staff Reactor Systems Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff Reactor Systems Engineer to own the technical integration of a first-of-a-kind reactor. With no operating predecessor to copy and no mature supply chain, you will be the person who holds the whole machine together, making sure hundreds of design decisions across nuclear physics, thermal-hydraulics, controls, structures, materials, fuel, and licensing add up to a reactor that works safely and is delivered to customers on time.

You will be the technical authority for how the pieces of Kaleidos fit together: translating top-level product and safety requirements into subsystem requirements, owning interfaces, and making sure the integrated system performs, is safe, and can be built, tested, and deployed repeatably.

As a staff-level engineer, you will work across every engineering discipline, resolve the hardest cross-system tradeoffs, and set the systems engineering practices the team uses as Kaleidos moves from first-of-a-kind builds to scaled production. You will be instrumental in unlocking commercialization of the first mass-produced nuclear reactor.

Responsibilities & Duties

• Own the Kaleidos system architecture and serve as technical authority for integrated system performance, safety, and reliability.

• Define and manage system budgets (e.g., thermal, mass, power, reactivity, and volume) and allocate margins across subsystems.

• Own interface definitions and interface control documents between subsystems, including reactor core, primary loop, power conversion loop, shielding, controls, and structures.

• Maintain the technical baseline (requirements, configuration, change control, risk registers, and documentation) using lightweight processes scaled to a fast-moving startup.

• Identify cross-cutting risks early and drive them to resolution before they become safety or schedule problems.

• Define the verification and validation strategy and partner with Test Engineering to turn requirements into test plans, success criteria, and acceptance tests.

• Correlate analysis and test results against system requirements, and drive resolution of discrepancies.

• Support safety-basis and licensing or regulatory documentation as needed.

• Mentor engineers across the organization in systems thinking, requirements quality, and interface discipline.

• Communicate system status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to engineering and program leadership.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution.

• 10+ years of professional engineering experience, including meaningful time in systems engineering, integration, testing, engineering operations, or technical leadership on complex hardware.

• Demonstrated experience owning requirements and interfaces for a complex system from concept through build, test, and operation.

• Experience leading system-level trade studies and making sound decisions with incomplete information.

• Strong working knowledge across several relevant disciplines, such as thermal-fluids, mechanical, structural, power systems, or controls.

• Experience with verification and validation, and with hazard and risk analysis methods (e.g., FMEA, FTA).

• Demonstrated technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams without relying on formal authority.

• Strong written and verbal communication, including producing clear technical documents and presenting to varied audiences.

Desired Qualifications & Skills

• Knowledge of nuclear reactor design, reactor safety, or nuclear regulatory frameworks.

• Experience with high-temperature systems, thermodynamic power cycles, or power generation systems.

• Experience with configuration management and change control for hardware programs.

• Experience transitioning hardware from development builds to repeatable production.

• Startup or fast-paced hardware development experience.

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to accomplish our mission.

• Eligibility to work in the U.S. and ability to meet export control requirements.

Benefits and Perks

• Stock: Substantial incentive stock plan for all full-time employees.

• Daily catered lunch. Free snacks and drinks.

• Flexible PTO policy. Remote workday allocation.