Program Director – First Commercial Reactor (FOAK)

THORIZON; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit-sharing

International office network

Job summary

Thorizon is seeking an exceptional Program Director to lead Europe’s first commercial molten salt reactor—from design through licensure, industrialization, construction and commissioning.

You will steer a cross-disciplinary team of engineers, partners and regulators to deliver a complex, first-of-a-kind project with international collaboration between Amsterdam and Lyon.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Engineering and extensive experience leading large multidisciplinary engineering or infrastructure programs.
• Proven track record delivering complex engineered systems or capital projects from design through execution in regulated industries.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to align diverse stakeholders across executive leadership, regulators and partners.
• Experience with EPC contracts and coordinating with legal teams on agreements.
• Excellent communication in English; French and/or Dutch advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of Thorizon's first commercial reactor across design, licensing, industrialization, construction and commissioning.
• Define and drive the integrated roadmap across engineering, validation, licensing, permitting, civil works and deployment.
• Build long-term relationships with engineering firms, civil contractors, manufacturing partners, suppliers and strategic partners.
• Establish governance, planning, risk management and project controls for a first-of-a-kind reactor program.
• Translate operator needs into plant requirements and project priorities across the program.
• Lead licensing and permitting strategy with regulators and authorities.
• Recruit and develop a multidisciplinary project organization and foster ownership and rigor.
• Shape Thorizon's future by defining scalable project management approaches and organizational structure.

Skills

Program leadership

Multidisciplinary teams

Stakeholder management

Technical leadership

English communication

Travel readiness

Education

Master's degree in Engineering

Job description

Your mission

We are looking for an exceptional Program Director to join our team and help realize one of the world’s most promising reactor technologies from design and engineering through prototyping, manufacturing and industrialization.

As a pioneer in advanced nuclear technology, we are redefining the future of clean energy. If you are an experienced project or program director with a passion for groundbreaking technologies and a track record of delivering complex multidisciplinary systems, we invite you to help build Europe’s first molten salt reactor.

As Program Director FOAK, you will lead the development and delivery of Europe’s first commercial molten salt reactor. This is one of Europe’s most ambitious engineering programs, taking the reactor from conceptual design through detailed engineering, licensing, industrialization, construction and commissioning. You will be responsible for transforming an innovative concept into a commercially successful nuclear power plant.

Working at the intersection of engineering, licensing, industrialization and strategic partnerships, you will build and lead the organization responsible for the First Commercial Reactor. Together with the CTO, COO and multidisciplinary teams, you will define the integrated roadmap, align technical decisions with execution, and maintain momentum across one of Europe’s most complex deep tech programs.

We are looking for an experienced engineering or project leader with a track record of delivering complex multidisciplinary programs, bringing together technical experts, industrial partners and external stakeholders, and turning ambitious visions into reality.

The Program Director reports to the COO and is ideally based in the Netherlands.

In This Role You Will

• Own the project: You own the successful delivery of Thorizon'sfirst commercial reactor, from today’s design,engineering and licensing activities through industrialization,construction and commissioning. You define and drive the integrated roadmap across engineering, validation, licensing, permitting, civil works, supply chain development and deployment, managing dependencies, risks and milestones to bring the reactor to commercial reality.
• Deliver a competitive reactor: Working closely with the CTO and multidisciplinary engineering teams, you ensure technical excellence translates into an executable project. You continuously optimize the design and manage trade-offs between safety, performance, reliability, manufacturability, constructability, schedule and cost, so the reactor meets its performance, availability and lifetime targets while remaining licensable,buildable and commercially competitive.
• Build the Industrial Ecosystem:You build long term relationships with engineering companies, civil contractors, manufacturing partners,suppliers and strategic partners that enable successful deployment. You define the industrial delivery strategy, supply chain, procurement approach and future delivery model required to scale the technology from first deployment to commercial fleet rollout.
• Drive Project Excellence:You establish the governance, planning, risk management and execution framework required to deliver a first of a kind reactor program. You create the structure, decision making processes and project controls that let teams execute with pace while maintaining the rigor nuclear delivery requires.
• Define the plant requirements:You work closely with future operators, end users and key stakeholders to translate operational needs into plant requirements, functional specifications and project priorities, ensuring alignment throughout the program and laying the foundation for commercial success.
• Drive Licensing and Permitting:You build trusted relationships with regulators and public authorities to establish the licensing, permitting and site development strategy for the program. You define the long term roadmap, align key milestones, and enable timely progression of activities.
• Build and Lead the Team:You recruit,developand lead a multidisciplinary project organization, creating an environment where systems engineers, project managers and technical specialists collaborate effectively and deliver with ownership,pace and engineering rigor.
• ShapeThorizon's Future:You help define how Europe builds its next generation of nuclear reactors. Beyond delivering the First Commercial Reactor, you shapeThorizon's project management approach, industrial capabilities and organizational development as the company scales toward commercial deployment.

About You

• You hold a Master's degree in Engineering and have extensive experience leading large multidisciplinary engineering or infrastructure programs. You have a proven track record of delivering complex engineered systems or capital projects from design through execution in nuclear, aerospace, defence, energy, semiconductors or other highly regulated industries.
• You are an all-round engineering leader who uniquely combines technical expertise, strategic thinking, personal leadership and team leadership:
• You can connect the dots across complex multidisciplinary systems, balancing technical, commercial and project objectives. You naturally zoom in and out, translating strategy into clear requirements,roadmaps and execution plans.
• You are a pragmatic, solution-oriented leader who drives teams forward,maintains momentum and helps others perform at their best. You are comfortable making well-founded decisions with incomplete information and taking calculated risks.
• You have experience building, leading and developing multidisciplinary teams, creating ownership,alignment and a culture of high performance.
• You have experience with EPC contracts and their variants, understand the associated commercial and contractual risks, and can work effectively with legal teams to negotiate and structure agreements.
• You have strong stakeholder management skills and build trusted relationships across executive leadership, regulators, industrial partners,suppliersand engineering teams. You know how to align diverse stakeholders and maintain pace in complex negotiations.
• You thrive in an entrepreneurial, fast-moving scale-up environment. Ideally, you have helped establish a new program, engineering organization or department and enjoy building structure where none exists.
• You are excited by pioneering first-of-a-kind technology. You enjoy turning ambitious visions into executable programs and solving problems others consider impossible.
• You have strong organizational skills, a structured way of working and a relentless drive for quality and execution.
• You feel inspired by working in diverse, multidisciplinary and international teams and adapt your leadership style to different people,cultures and situations.
• You are an excellent communicator ("clear is kind") in both spoken and written English. French and/or Dutch would be a strong advantage.
• You are willing to travel regularly between our Amsterdam and Lyon offices, and locations.

What You Can Expect From Us

• The opportunity to help realize the most promising reactor technology and advance Europe’s energy future
• Being part of an exceptional team that combines engineering rigor, scientific excellence, and entrepreneurial drive
• Working in multidisciplinary teams on ambitious missions, with responsibility and meaningful impact from day one
• A fast-moving deep-tech environment where initiative is valued and people are trusted to make decisions
• Complex, multidisciplinary challenges that will stretch you and accelerate your growth
• Competitive compensation and participation in our employee profit-sharing plan
• An international workplace with offices in the heart of Amsterdam and Lyon

About Us

Thorizon is a European deep tech scale up developing a new generation of small modular molten salt reactors to power the AI and industrial age with abundant, clean and affordable energy. With offices in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Lyon, we are developing a reactor that combines inherent safety, high temperature industrial heat and competitive electricity generation. Designed to recycle long lived nuclear waste as fuel, our technology also advances a more circular nuclear fuel cycle.

Having completed the conceptual design of our demonstrator reactor and secured the site for its deployment in Noord Holland, we are entering the next phase: detailed engineering, licensing, supply chain development and construction of our first of a kind reactor, paving the way for commercial deployment in Zeeland.

We work alongside leading industrial partners including Orano, VDL Groep, Tractebel and EPZ. Our program has been selected by the European Commission and by the French government under the France 2030 investment plan, and is recognized by the Dutch government as a flagship innovation project strengthening the country’s long term competitiveness.

At Thorizon, we believe a strongly coupled multidisciplinary technology development requires a culture of full openness and transparency. That’s why we foster values like unity, communication, and support to ensure we grow together as a team while achieving our purpose.