Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis

TerraPower; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 246,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Compensation

Discretionary bonuses

Medical and Wellness Benefits

401k Plan

PTO 21 days

Holiday schedule 10 paid holidays

Relocation Assistance

Professional and Educational Support

Equal Employment Opportunity

Job summary

TerraPower in Bellevue, WA, seeks a Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis to lead probabilistic risk assessment and deterministic safety analyses, and to integrate risk and safety into plant and system design for advanced nuclear projects.

This hands-on role requires coordinating across engineering, safety, and project teams, mentoring staff, and communicating issues to leadership, with qualification requirements including advanced degrees and 15+ years of experience in the field.

Qualifications

• Minimum 15 years of related experience with a B.S. degree (12 years with M.S., 8 years with Ph.D.)
• Demonstrated experience with probabilistic risk assessment and safety analyses
• Ability to interface with multiple engineering disciplines and stakeholders
• Knowledge of NEI-18-04 implementation for licensing advanced reactors is a plus
• Familiarity with sodium fast reactors and safety cases is a plus

Responsibilities

• Support project leadership with roadmaps and planning
• Collaborate across cross-functional teams to ensure right analyses are performed
• Review documents and activities for areas of responsibility
• Mentor technical staff and managers
• Possess multi-area responsibilities as assigned

Skills

Probabilistic risk assessment

Deterministic safety analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Project planning

Technical leadership

Communication

ASME NQA-1 experience

Education

B.S. in Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering

M.S. in Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering

Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering

Tools

NEI-18-04

NQA-1 quality program

ASME standards

Codes and standards

Job description

Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis

Bellevue, Washington, USA

TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits.

TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis

The Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis is highly technical, hands-on role that requires in-depth understanding of the cross-functional needs between probabilistic risk analysis, deterministic safety analysis and their relationships to plant, system and component design to support the development and execution of new projects. In that context, the risk and safety analysis lead engineer is responsible for providing planning and technical guidance, performing work as necessary as well as managing complex interfaces across multiple groups including stakeholders external to Safety and Engineering Analysis.

The Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis is also responsible for communicating technical and execution issues needing attention to Safety and Engineering Analysis and project leadership. The Lead Principal Engineer, Risk and Safety Analysis is also expected to interface regularly with Chief Engineers as part of project definition and execution.

The Risk and Safety Analysis Lead Engineer cross-functional areas of responsibility include

• Probabilistic risk assessment and deterministic safety analysis
• Integration of risk and safety into plant and/or system design

Responsibilities:

More specifically, the Risk and Safety Analysis Lead engineer is responsible for

• Supporting the project leadership team with developing roadmaps, planning (baseline or recovery), short- and long-term strategies, decisions and issue resolution.
• Collaborating across cross-functional teams to ensure that the right analyses using the right inputs are performed to meet the needs of new projects (functional, performance, interface, safety, quality, etc.).
• Performing review to identify impacted released documents and/or in-progress activities in the areas of responsibility when participating to project definition and execution.
• Mentoring technical staff and junior managers to develop a proficient and efficient organization to support multiple projects.
• As assigned, the Risk and Safety Analysis Lead Engineer is expected to perform work in one or multiple areas of responsibilities.

Key Qualifications and Skills

• B.S, M.S. or Ph.D. in mechanical, nuclear or other relevant engineering from an accredited university.
• Minimum 15 years of related experience with B.S. degree, or 12 years with M.S. degree, or 8 years with Ph.D. degree with a demonstrated ability to produce a high-quality work product.
• Demonstrated work experience with probabilistic risk assessment and safety analyses is required. Additional experience with their application to the development of new project is a plus.
• Good understanding of plant and system design and how they are informed by PRA and DSA.
• Experience interfacing with various engineering disciplines, cross-functional teams and other stakeholders.
• Knowledge of NEI-18-04 and its implementation for establishing the licensing basis of advanced reactors is a plus.
• Strong communication and conflict resolution skills.
• Creative, proactive, attentive to detail, and take ownership of problems and their resolution
• Demonstrated flexibility and learning attitude when responsibilities require involvement in new areas.
• Working experience using codes and standards as well as procedures. This includes experience working under a quality assurance program like ASME NQA-1
• Skilled in detailed oriented and timely reviews of engineering documents to ensure consistency, precision, and technical rigor.
• Ability to work multiple tasks concurrently with minimal direction.
• In-depth knowledge of sodium fast reactors and their safety case is a plus.

This position is subject to qualification requirements in accordance with ANSI/ANS 3.1. Candidates must meet the minimum education and experience criteria applicable to the role, including relevant nuclear industry experience where required. Verification of data will be part of the hiring process.

Job Functions:

Job Functions are physical actions and/or working conditions associated with the position. These functions may also constitute essential functions for the job which the employee must be able to fulfill, with or without accommodation. Information provided below is to help describe the job so that the applicant has a reasonable understanding of the job duties/expectations. An applicant's ability to perform and/or tolerate these actions and conditions will be discussed and workplace accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis following an individualized assessment of the applicant and other considerations, including but not limited to any governing safety standards.

• Motor Abilities: Sitting for extended periods, bending/stooping, grasping/gripping, fine motor control (hands)
• Physical exertion and/or requirements: Minimal, with ability to safely lift up to 25 pounds.
• Special Senses: Visual and audio focused work
• Work Conditions: Stairs, typing/keyboard, standard and/or sitting working environment of >8 hours/day
• Travel required 0-10%

TerraPower’s technology is controlled for export by various agencies of the U.S. Government. TerraPower must evaluate applicants who are foreign nationals (other than asylees, refugees, or lawful permanent residents) in accordance with U.S. Government export control requirements. To facilitate TerraPower’s export control reviews, you will be asked as part of the application process to identify whether you are a U.S. Citizen or national, asylee, refugee, or lawful permanent resident of the United States. Government export authorization approval times vary. Based on the business needs for a particular position, TerraPower may not consider a foreign national from a country if it is impracticable to obtain timely Government export approval.

Job details

Salary Range: $184,368 – $245,824

Any salary offered within the posted salary band is based on market data and commensurate with the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. This range is specific to Washington State.

Job Type: Full-time

• Competitive Compensation
• Salary, eligible to participate in discretionary short-term incentive payments
• Comprehensive Medical and Wellness Benefits
  • Medical
  • Vision
  • Dental
  • Life and Disability
  • Gender Affiliation Benefits
• 401k Plan
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO)
  • 21 days of annually accrued PTO
• Generous Holiday Schedule
  • 10 paid holidays
• Relocation Assistance
• Professional and Educational Support Opportunities

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As set forth in TerraPower LLC.’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

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The application deadline for this role is September 9, 2026