Lead Digital Twin Scientist - IFE System Modeling

Fusion Energy Base; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision plans

401(k) with company match

Unlimited PTO

State-of-the-art equipment

Regular team events

Job summary

Focused Energy, a pioneering clean energy company, seeks a Principal Scientist to lead the Digital Twin team. You will integrate subsystems—laser, target, chamber, injection, and manufacturing—into a unified plant model and guide validation across codes, experiments, and external data.

You will set modeling standards, manage uncertainty, and present findings to executives, investors, and collaborators, driving design feasibility and scientific leadership in a startup environment.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Physics with specialization in Plasma, Laser, Nuclear or related field.
• Ph.D. is strongly preferred.
• Strong programming skills and experience with HPC/large-scale simulation workflows.

Responsibilities

• Integrate physics modeling across all IFE subsystems: laser, target, chamber, injection/tracking, manufacturing.
• Validate that subsystem codes capture physics with quantified uncertainty.
• Set scientific direction, modeling standards, and validation philosophy for the Digital Twin team.
• Lead development of a comprehensive, integrated IFE plant model.
• Perform trade-off analyses across design candidates to assess plant viability.
• Collaborate with experimental teams to validate simulation codes against real-shot data.

Skills

Python

Fortran

C++

HPC

Uncertainty analysis

Education

Master's degree in Physics

Ph.D. preferred

Tools

Hydrodynamic codes

PIC

Ray tracing

Monte Carlo neutronics

Job description

Focused Energy, a pioneering clean energy company, seeks a Principal Scientist to lead the Digital Twin team. You will integrate subsystems—laser, target, chamber, injection, and manufacturing—into a unified plant model and guide validation across codes, experiments, and external data.

You will set modeling standards, manage uncertainty, and present findings to executives, investors, and collaborators, driving design feasibility and scientific leadership in a startup environment.