Continuous Improvement/Operational Excellence Engineer

Blackwing; Torrance, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Equity ownership

Comprehensive medical benefits

Free daily lunch and dinner onsite

High-impact startup environment

Opportunities for rapid career growth

Direct collaboration with experienced

operators, engineers, and industry

Job summary

Valar Atomics is seeking a Continuous Improvement / Operational Excellence Engineer to design, improve, standardize, and scale business processes as we move from rapid technology development to commercial deployment. You will identify bottlenecks, governance gaps, and cross-functional frictions.

You will develop practical, scalable solutions balancing execution speed with appropriate governance and risk management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field and senior experience in operations.
• Proven ability to map, analyze, and improve complex processes.
• Experience with regulated environments and governance.
• Strong collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chains.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise-wide process improvement initiatives across multiple functions.
• Map, analyze, improve, and standardize end-to-end processes for quality and delivery.
• Develop governance frameworks and performance metrics for scalable growth.
• Coach leaders on process thinking and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Ensure enterprise processes integrate with ERP/CRM/PLM/MES/DMS/QMS/LMS/LIMS/CMMS.

Skills

Process thinking

Operational excellence

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Lean Six Sigma

Systems thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

Tools

ERP

CRM

PLM

MES

DMS

QMS

LMS

LIMS

CMMS

Job description

About Valar Atomics

At Valar Atomics,we'reredefiningwhat'spossible in energy. Our mission is to make clean, high-temperature nuclear power scalable—unlocking abundant energy for industry, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe nuclear energy should be fast to deploy, factory-made, and built for the real world. Our first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah willdemonstratehow advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication can power the future. Joining Valar Atomics means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level.

The Role

As a Continuous Improvement / Operational Excellence Engineer, you will help design, improve, standardize, and scale the business processes that enable Valar Atomics to execute effectively as it transitions from rapidtechnologydevelopment to commercial deployment. This role exists at the intersection of operational excellence, quality systems, process governance, organizational effectiveness, and enterprise scalability.

Valar is building multiple highly integrated businessessimultaneously—includingreactor development, fuel production, engineering, manufacturing, construction, supply chain, laboratory operations, and customer support. As the organization grows, the challenge is not simply improving individualactivities, butensuring the end-to-end processes connecting these organizationsremainefficient, scalable, risk-informed, and aligned with both regulatory expectations and operational realities.

This role serves as one of the enterprise's primary process architects. You will work across the organization toidentifyoperational friction, process inefficiencies, unclear ownership, governance gaps, excessive complexity, redundant activities, and systemic weaknesses.You will then help develop practical, scalable solutions that improve organizational performance without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.

Success in this role requires a unique combination of process thinking, quality systems knowledge, operational excellenceexpertise, business process development, organizational design awareness, and the ability to balance execution speed withappropriate governance. The ideal candidate understands that process rigor should be applied through a graded approach that reflects risk, regulatory obligations, consensus standards, operational maturity, and businessobjectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise-wide process improvement initiatives across Engineering, Manufacturing, Construction, Supply Chain, Quality, Laboratory Operations, Customer Service, and other business functions.
• Map, analyze, improve, and standardize end-to-end business processes to improve safety, quality, delivery performance, customer satisfaction, organizational effectiveness, and scalability.
• Evaluate business processes against applicable regulatory requirements, quality management standards, consensus standards, and organizationalobjectiveswhile ensuring controls remainappropriate torisk.
• Identifyprocessbottlenecks, organizational friction points, unclear ownership boundaries, redundant activities, excessive handoffs, and non-value-added work.
• Facilitate structured problem-solving efforts using Lean, Six Sigma, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, systems thinking, and other continuous improvement methodologies.
• Develop processarchitectures, process interaction models, governance frameworks, ownership structures, and performance measurement systems that support sustainable organizational growth.
• Partner with process owners and leadership teams to define future-state workflows that improve execution consistency whilemaintainingoperational flexibility whereappropriate.
• Help ensure enterprise processes are effectively implemented through supporting business systems including ERP, CRM, PLM, MES, DMS, QMS, LMS, LIMS, CMMS, and related operational platforms.
• Establish meaningful process performance metrics, dashboards, scorecards, and management review mechanisms that support data-driven decision making.
• Support development of enterprise process governance frameworks that balance regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, qualityobjectives, and business needs.
• Coach leaders and teams on process thinking, process ownership, operational excellence principles, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Helpestablisha culture where continuous improvement, disciplined execution, and organizational learning become embedded behaviors throughout the enterprise.

You Will Be Successful in This Role If

• You naturally view organizational problems as process problems waiting to be understood and improved.
• You can quickly understand howwork flowsacross organizations,identifyinefficiencies, and develop practical solutions that improve performance.
• You are equally comfortable discussing quality system requirements, operational realities, organizational governance, and businessobjectives.
• You understand that effective governance and operational excellence are complementary, not competing,objectives.
• You can distinguish between processes that require strict standardization and processes thatbenefitfrom flexibility and innovation.
• Youare capable of influencingorganizational change through credibility, collaboration, and logic rather than positional authority.
• You recognize that enterprise scalability is achieved through thoughtful process design, notadditionalbureaucracy.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Systems Engineering, Quality Engineering, Business Operations, OperationsManagement, ora relatedtechnical discipline.
• 15+ years of experience in operational excellence, continuous improvement, business process development, quality systems, industrial engineering, operations management, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience improving business processes within manufacturing, engineering, construction, energy, aerospace, defense, semiconductor, nuclear, or similarly complex technical environments.
• Strong understanding of process mapping, process analysis, root cause analysis, value stream mapping, performance measurement, and organizational process improvement methodologies.
• Familiarity with enterprise business systems and operational workflowscommonlysupported through ERP, CRM, PLM, MES, DMS, QMS, LMS, LIMS, and CMMS platforms.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities and organizational structures.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Strong working knowledge of quality management systems and consensus standards such as ISO 9001, AS9100, IATF 16949, NQA-1, ISO 13485, or similar frameworks.
• Familiarity with 10 CFR 830, 10 CFR 50 and other nuclear and industry regulatory governance.
• Demonstrated experience translating regulatory requirements, quality standards, and governance expectations into practical business processes.
• Experience designing, documenting, implementing, and governing enterprise-level business processes across multiple organizational functions.
• Strong understanding of process ownership models, governance structures, RACI development, process maturity models, and organizational accountability systems.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, Operational Excellence, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, or equivalent certifications.
• ExperiencefacilitatingKaizen events, business process reengineering initiatives, enterprise process transformation efforts, or large-scale organizational improvement programs.
• Familiarity with management review systems, KPI development, balanced scorecards, and organizational performance management.
• Strong systems-thinking capability with the ability to understand second- and third-order impacts of process and organizational design decisions.
• Experienceoperatingwithin highly regulated or consensus-standard-driven industries where risk-informed and graded approaches to governance arerequired.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary
• Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company
• Comprehensive medical benefits
• Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite
• High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy
• Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement
• Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders
• The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Valar Atomics is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).

Salary

$175,000 - $240,000 USD