Lead Engineer, Power Conversion

AdAstra; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Discretionary bonuses

Medical, vision, dental coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid vacation and parental leave

Job summary

AdAstra Talent Advisors' client, an early-stage nuclear energy startup, seeks a leader to own an electromechanical power system—from turbine to controls—and scale it from prototype to full production with rapid growth. You will drive requirements, perform first-principles modeling, and collaborate with vendors and production teams to ensure manufacturability and reliability.

You will build and oversee a multidisciplinary team, report to the CEO/Chief Engineer, and operate on-site in the Los

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or related technical field.
• 3 years of engineering experience designing, analyzing, or building mechanical hardware.
• 1 year of direct experience leading engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end electromechanical system design from concept to production.
• Lead architecture trades, write requirements, and run first-principles models.
• Coordinate with vendors for procurement and with production for manufacturability.
• Build and lead a multi-disciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, and controls engineers.
• Report to CEO/Chief Engineer and drive delivery in a fast-paced environment.

Skills

Electromechanical systems design

Leadership experience

System architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering

Job description

About the Company

Two problems define this century: keeping the lights on, and doing it without wrecking the planet. Our client, an early-stage nuclear energy startup, is betting that fission solves both at once.

Rather than chasing exotic new physics, they're building the industrial capability to produce fission power plants fast, at a rate nobody in the industry has attempted, starting with a first commercial reactor and the critical subsystems that make it real. Today they are lean, founder-led, and moving very fast.

This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client of AdAstra Talent Advisors.

About the Role

This role owns the system that turns the reactor's heat into usable electricity: the turbine and generator, the high-power electrical systems that interface with the load, a regenerative feedwater heating train, condensate filtration and polishing, control electronics, and heat rejection. If the reactor makes the heat, you're building everything that turns that heat into power.

You’ll stand up this system twice. First for a subscale, non-nuclear prototype built to prove out the approach. Then at full scale, designed from day one to be manufactured and deployed at a high rate. Along the way you’ll drive the conceptual design and architecture trades, write the requirements where none exist yet, run first-principles system models, work directly with vendors on procurement, and partner with the production team to make sure what you design is scalable.

You’ll report directly to the CEO / Chief Engineer and recruit/build the multi-disciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, and controls engineers who deliver this with you.

Responsibilities

Someone who has owned a complex electromechanical system end to end in high-ownership environments, and is comfortable making real design calls while building out data and conclusions. The team moves fast and needs a leader in this seat who holds a high bar, and genuinely wants to see abundant clean energy become a reality.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related technical discipline
• 3 years of engineering experience designing, analyzing, or building mechanical hardware
• 1 years of direct experience leading engineers

Preferred Experience

• A creative, multi-disciplinary problem solver who can pull mechanical, electrical, and controls thinking together
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, autonomous, demanding environment
• Strong documentation, communication, and organizational instincts, even when moving quickly
• A track record of rapid growth: successive roles of increasing responsibility, ramping up fast, and doing something meaningfully hard early in your career

The above qualifications are desired, not required. We encourage you to apply if you are a strong candidate with only some of the desired skills and experience listed.

Logistical Requirements

• On-site in the Los Angeles Area; relocation support for non-local candidates
• Some extended hours and weekends should be expected at this stage of company
• Periodic travel to suppliers and reactor construction sites

ITAR Requirement

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Benefit Highlights

• Base salary is just one part of our client's total rewards package.
• You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or stock options, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at.a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, paid vacation, parental leave, and various other perks.
• Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies of exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.
• Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. (For CA companies with over 10 employees, we recommend adding a very wide salary band to adhere to state pay transparency law) In addition to base salary, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Equal Opportunity

Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.