Lead OT Engineer - Power Conversion

Valar Atomics Inc.; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Unlimited PTO

Free meals onsite

PPE stipend

Career growth

Collaboration with operators

Ground-breaking energy technology

Job summary

Valar Atomics is building the future of energy with a fast-to-deploy approach and a DOE-authorized research reactor background. We are seeking leaders to own the OT engineering delivery, coordinating equipment, vendors, and test schedules while maintaining readiness and accountability.

You will manage daily OT work plans, supervise a contractor-heavy team, and drive decisions through delegated authority, delivering safe, scalable power-conversion infrastructure in a high-impact startup

Qualifications

• Experience directing teams of specialists, vendors, and schedules.
• Ability to set priorities, deliver realistic work plans, and maintain status records.
• Experience escalating issues and coordinating handoffs within delegated authority.

Responsibilities

• Sequence OT work around equipment availability and test windows.
• Assign work and coach team members toward commitments.
• Maintain staffing plans and resolve resource gaps early.
• Coordinate infrastructure implementation, commissioning support, and turnover.
• Maintain as-built cabling drawings for site power conversion networks.
• Obtain engineering decisions and track testing to completion.

Skills

People management

Coordination of complex programs

Leadership

Contractor management

Prioritization under pressure

Job description

At Valar Atomics, we're redefining what's possible 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 will demonstrate how 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 Team

As part of the Engineering organization, Instrumentations & Controls designs the systems that monitor, automate, and protect Valar's facilities and reactor technologies. The team develops reliable control architectures that enable safe and efficient operations

The Role

Valar Atomics is a young startup that turns ambitious engineering into working hardware. Before our third anniversary, we designed, built, commissioned, and operated a DOE-authorized research reactor outside the national laboratory system. That pace defines how we work: learn quickly, make sound decisions, and build systems that perform. Safe operation, disciplined testing, and regulatory rigor are non-negotiable. Analysis must lead to decisions and delivery, and we expect people to take ownership and see their work through. If you want hard problems, real responsibility, and the freedom to build with urgency, bring your judgment and drive to Valar.

Own the power-conversion program's daily OT work plan, team workload, and delivery commitments. Turn equipment, vendor, integration, and test dependencies into coordinated work, keeping the team effective when schedules change. Technical expertise is preferred, not required; people-management and decision authority develop through explicit delegation.

OT Engineering delivers power and rack infrastructure, compute, networks, identity, security, operational data, and industrial software platforms. The FactoryTalk scope covers backend deployment, configuration, integration, and recovery.

Key Responsibilities

• Sequence OT work around equipment availability, vendor deliverables, integration needs, test windows, and site readiness.
• Assign work, set clear expectations, coach team members, give candid feedback, and address missed commitments within delegated authority.
• Maintain realistic staffing and work plans; resolve competing commitments and resource gaps early.
• Coordinate infrastructure implementation, commissioning support, maintenance, and turnover with equipment and program stakeholders.
• Maintain as built structured cabling drawings for site and power conversion network systems
• Resolve execution obstacles, hold owners to agreed actions, and elevate constraints before they block dependent work.
• Obtain engineering and acceptance decisions and track implementation, testing, and records through completion.

You Will Be Successful in This Role If

• Highly organized, with disciplined task tracking, accurate documentation, clear priorities, and reliable follow-through.
• Calm prioritization when equipment, vendor, or test schedules change.
• Consistent coaching, candid feedback, and fair accountability that keep the team effective.
• Highly proficient in contractor management and leading a team that is majority contractors for a time
• Early recognition of dependencies and resource conflicts, followed by practical action to keep work moving.
• Respect for readiness and acceptance decisions when delivery pressure increases.

Basic Qualifications

• Direct people-management or supervisory experience, including assignments, expectations, coaching, feedback, and accountability for completion.
• Experience coordinating concurrent technical or operational work involving specialists, vendors, resources, schedules, and dependencies.
• Ability to maintain clear priorities, realistic work plans, accurate status and issue records, and dependable follow-through under pressure.
• Experience removing delivery obstacles, escalating consequential issues, and coordinating handoffs against engineers' requirements and acceptance decisions within delegated authority.
• Sequence equipment, vendor, integration, and testing dependencies with clear readiness and escalation decisions.
• Technical specialization is preferred, not required. Qualified nontechnical people managers are eligible; hands-on engineering execution is not required.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience leading delivery, commissioning, services, or maintenance work for power-generation or heavy-equipment programs.
• Experience coordinating vendors, equipment interfaces, and site test schedules.
• Familiarity with industrial OT infrastructure or power-conversion equipment.

What We Offer

• Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company
• Unlimited PTO
• Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite
• Generous PPE stipend
• 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).

$160,000 - $210,000 USD