Licensing Manager

Brightsmith; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Brightsmith is seeking a Licensing Manager to lead regulatory, licensing, and safety analysis for our reactor deployment program. You’ll serve as the primary liaison with regulators and drive the licensing roadmap forward.

You will manage submissions, budgets, and consultants, translate regulatory changes into actionable tasks, and ensure rigorous risk analysis and documentation across the program. This role requires 10+ years in licensing and a strong technical background, with excellent

Qualifications

• 10+ years in licensing, regulatory affairs, safety engineering, or a related field.
• Strong risk fluency — quantitative or hazard-based risk assessment.
• Proven track record negotiating with regulators and obtaining exemptions.
• Experience in highly regulated industries undergoing deregulation (e.g., aerospace, LNG, pipelines).
• Experience managing third-party licensing consultants and budgets.
• Strong document control skills with milestone and risk tracking.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, nuclear science, or related field (advanced degree a plus).
• Excellent written and verbal communication in technical and regulatory contexts.
• Nice to Have: NRC Part 53 familiarity; Hazard/risk methodologies such as HAZOP/QRA.

Responsibilities

• Act as the single point of contact with regulators.
• Manage licensing deliverables against regulatory engagement plans.
• Prepare, review, and quality-control regulatory submissions.
• Manage third-party licensing consultants, deliverables, and budgets.
• Support safety analysis with data, modeling, reviews, and documentation.
• Monitor regulatory changes and translate them into actionable tasks.
• Track licensing milestones and risks, and escalate when needed.
• Keep document systems, version control, and filings organized.

Skills

Regulatory licensing

Risk assessment

Regulator negotiation

Third-party management

Documentation control

Technical communication

NRC Part 53 familiarity

Hazard/risk analysis methods

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering/physics/nuclear science

Job description

Our client is looking for a Licensing Manager to lead regulatory, licensing, and safety analysis efforts as they advance their reactor deployment program. You'll act as the single point of contact with regulators, manage licensing documentation and technical fault studies, support probabilistic safety analysis, and drive our licensing roadmap forward.

This isn't a compliance-checkbox role. We're looking for someone who has operated inside a regulatory environment that's actively changing — someone who understands risk deeply enough to make the case for it, not just document it.

What You'll Do

• Act as the single point of contact with regulators
• Manage licensing deliverables against regulatory engagement plans
• Prepare, review, and quality-control regulatory submissions
• Manage third-party licensing consultants, deliverables, and budgets
• Support safety analysis with data, modeling, reviews, and documentation
• Monitor regulatory changes and translate them into actionable tasks
• Track licensing milestones and risks, and **escalate** when needed
• Keep document systems, version control, and filings organized

What You Bring

• 10+ years in licensing, regulatory affairs, safety engineering, or a similar field
• Strong risk fluency — quantitative or hazard-based risk assessment
• A track record of pushing back on or negotiating with regulators: arguing alternative compliance approaches, securing exemptions, or engaging during active rulemaking change
• Experience in a highly regulated industry that’s undergoing deregulation — commercial aerospace, LNG export terminals, pipeline safety, offshore energy, or similar
• Experience managing third-party consultants and budgets
• Strong document control skills, with a track record of tracking milestones and risk
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, nuclear science, or a related field (advanced degree a plus)
• Excellent written and verbal communication in technical and regulatory contexts

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with NRC regulations, including Part 53
• Experience with hazard/risk methodologies such as HAZOP, QRA, or fault tree analysis

Our client is building the first standardized, mass-producible nuclear power plant. If you’ve spent your career arguing safety cases to a regulator that’s rewriting its own rulebook, we want to talk to you.