Director, Deployment Strategy and Integration

Oklo Inc; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Oklo Inc. is seeking a Director of Deployment Strategy and Integration to lead high-visibility cross-functional deployment workstreams from framing to implementation.

This role requires navigating ambiguity, synthesizing inputs from technical, regulatory, commercial, and government domains, and driving teams to decisions and action. The ideal candidate will combine judgment, bold leadership, and clear writing to influence senior leaders without direct authority and to deliver executable

Qualifications

• Typically 10+ years of relevant experience with demonstrated scope, judgment, and outcomes.
• A record of independently leading complex, cross-functional work from ambiguity to concrete outcomes.
• Strong executive presence and ability to influence senior leaders without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in clear, modern language.
• Ability to learn technical and operational subject matter quickly and ask precise questions.
• Experience carrying decisions into implementation and adapting as facts change.
• Operate with limited direction and credibly represent a senior leader within a defined mandate.

Responsibilities

• Own top-priority cross-functional deployment workstreams from problem definition through decision and implementation.
• Enter ambiguous situations, identify the underlying question, and build a practical path to an answer.
• Develop integrated recommendations that connect technical, regulatory, financial, construction, schedule, operational, customer, and government inputs.
• Separate facts, assumptions, constraints, and preferences; test whether the available evidence supports the current plan.
• Develop options with clear tradeoffs, second-order effects, owners, timing, and a recommended path.
• Convene cross-functional teams, clarify interfaces, surface conflicts, and drive issues to closure or timely escalation.
• Write concise decision memos, executive updates, meeting narratives, and implementation plans that stand on their own.
• Represent the Senior Director, Deployments in defined meetings and workstreams and follow through on commitments within that mandate.
• Convert lessons from live projects into practical, repeatable deployment practices for the broader portfolio.

Skills

Leadership

Executive presence

Writing

Systems thinking

Independent decision-making

Problem framing

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic planning

Job description

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Director of Deployment Strategy and Integration to join our team.

Position Description

Oklo is hiring a Director of Deployment Strategy and Integration to serve as a high-judgment deputy to the Senior Director, Deployments. This senior, independent operator will own top-priority cross-functional deployment workstreams from problem framing and recommendation development through decision and implementation.

Deploying advanced nuclear technology requires technical, regulatory, commercial, financial, construction, schedule, operational, customer, and government considerations to move together, often before every fact is known. This leader will bring those inputs into a clear point of view, help senior leaders make consequential choices, and drive aligned teams through execution.

The Director will work across business units and functions, earning trust without relying on direct authority over every contributor. Success requires exceptional judgment and writing, comfort with ambiguity, a low-ego operating style, and the discipline to stay with the work until the outcome is real.

Specific responsibilities may include

• Own top-priority cross-functional deployment workstreams from problem definition through decision and implementation.
• Enter ambiguous situations, identify the underlying question, and build a practical path to an answer.
• Develop integrated recommendations that connect technical, commercial, regulatory, financial, construction, schedule, operational, customer, and government inputs.
• Separate facts, assumptions, constraints, and preferences; test whether the available evidence supports the current plan.
• Develop options with clear tradeoffs, second-order effects, owners, timing, and a recommended path.
• Convene cross-functional teams, clarify interfaces, surface conflicts, and drive issues to closure or timely escalation.
• Write concise decision memos, executive updates, meeting narratives, and implementation plans that stand on their own.
• Represent the Senior Director, Deployments in defined meetings and workstreams and follow through on commitments within that mandate.
• Convert lessons from live projects into practical, repeatable deployment practices for the broader portfolio.

Minimum Qualifications

• Typically 10 or more years of relevant experience; demonstrated scope, judgment, and outcomes matter more than a specific number of years.
• A record of independently leading complex, cross-functional work from an ambiguous starting point to a concrete outcome.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence senior leaders and subject‑matter experts without relying on reporting authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in clear, modern, active language.
• The ability to learn technical and operational subject matter quickly and ask precise questions without overstepping domain expertise.
• Experience carrying decisions into implementation and adapting as facts or conditions change.
• The ability to operate with limited direction and represent a senior leader credibly within a defined mandate

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience leading complex programs, deployments, infrastructure development, strategy and operations, technical special projects, government programs, or high‑stakes field operations.
• Experience in advanced energy, nuclear, aerospace, defense technology, construction, industrial systems, autonomy, or another regulated hardware environment.
• Familiarity with first‑of‑a‑kind delivery, government customers or partners, complex contracts, project finance, capital decisions, stage gates, project controls, EPC partners, commissioning, or operational readiness.
• Direct field, site, construction, manufacturing, or customer‑deployment experience.

Competencies

• A strong problem framer: Identifies the real decision, relevant time horizon, constraints, and downstream consequences before proposing a solution.
• An independent decision‑maker: Forms and defends a sound view with incomplete or conflicting information while being clear about uncertainty.
• An exceptional writer: Turns a large, messy source set into a short document that an executive can use to decide and a team can use to act.
• A systems thinker: Connects engineering, regulatory, commercial, finance, construction, schedule, operations, customer, and government realities without losing the critical path.
• A decisive collaborator: Builds alignment across teams while keeping decision ownership clear and using escalation thoughtfully.
• An execution‑minded strategist: Converts recommendations into owners, sequence, resources, risks, and review points, and stays engaged through implementation.
• Passionate about clean energy
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• Eager to work on a dynamic team, receive constructive feedback, and grow with us
• Willing to think differently and do things in new ways
• Comfortable in a fast‑paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Excited to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about the problems they are solving, while not leaning only on what has been done before
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions to technical problems
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally

Who you are

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast‑paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self‑motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work‑life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team‑player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open‑ended problems which may change day‑by‑day.

Detail‑oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

Candidates should be aware that employment may be contingent upon successful completion of a drug screening, and employees may be subject to drug testing at any time in accordance with company policy and applicable laws.