Materials Engineer - Platings and Coatings

Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company on the cutting edge of fusion energy as a Materials Engineer. In this role, you'll tackle unique materials challenges for the SPARC project and the future ARC fusion power plant. You'll collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to select and validate materials, ensuring they meet stringent performance criteria. Your expertise in electroplating and surface modification will be pivotal in driving innovation and efficiency. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a sustainable energy future while working in a dynamic and supportive environment that values creativity and diverse perspectives.

Benefits

Competitive compensation with equity

12.5 Company-wide Holidays

Flexible vacation days

10 sick days

Generous parental leave policy

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with employer matching

Professional growth opportunities

Team-building activities

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in materials science or nuclear engineering.
• Expertise in electroplating and surface modification processes.

Responsibilities

• Translate performance requirements into material property requirements.
• Collaborate with engineers to select materials and processing methods.
• Design experiments to learn critical materials properties.

Skills

Electroplating

Electroless deposition

Surface modification processes

Problem-solving skills

Agile project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in materials science or related field

Job description

About Commonwealth Fusion Systems:

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is on a mission to deliver the urgent transition to fusion energy. Combining decades of research, top talent and new technologies, we’re designing and building commercially viable fusion power plants. And working with policymakers and suppliers to build the energy industry of the future. We’re in the best position to make it happen. Since 2018, we’ve raised over $2 billion in capital – more than any other fusion energy company in the U.S. Now we’re looking for more thinkers, doers, builders, and makers to join us. People who’ll bring new perspectives, solve tough problems, and thrive as part of a team. If that’s you and this role fits, we want to hear from you.

Join the power movement as a Materials Engineer

The Materials Department at CFS supports design engineers, supply chain, and manufacturing by selecting materials, unambiguously defining materials and their properties, validating and measuring those materials and their properties, and conducting R&D to develop new materials and processes to enable fusion power deployment. The work is undertaken in support of delivering SPARC, the net energy tokamak under construction in Devens, MA, and ultimately in designing the ARC fusion power plant. These devices pose unique materials challenges including neutron fluxes produced by deuterium-tritium fusion, high heat loads, molten salt coolant systems, complex component topologies, high magnetic fields, and high cryogenic mechanical loads. To support this mission, the CFS Materials Department is seeking a Materials Engineer with expertise in electroplating, electroless deposition, electroless plating, metalization, anodization or other surface modification processes in both R&D and production environments.

What you’ll do:

• Translating component/system performance requirements and failure modes into material property requirements and defining appropriate test methods to measure/validate those properties
• Collaborating with design and manufacturing engineers to approve or select materials and processing methods
• Serving as a subject matter expert for materials development projects where off-the-shelf materials cannot be used
• Selecting and interpreting applicable international materials standard specifications
• Authoring materials standard specifications for fusion specific applications
• Reviewing, interpreting, and reporting materials property data into version controlled databases for engineering use
• Designing experiments to quickly learn critical materials properties in manufacturing relevant conditions
• Qualifying supplier materials including reviewing test data and judging equivalence or adherence to various standard specifications
• Provide on-demand subject matter expertise for production root cause analyses and corrective action plans where related to raw or as-fabricated materials

What we’re looking for:

• BS + 5 years experience in materials science, nuclear engineering, manufacturing, or related disciplines
• 1+ years experience engineering industrial electroplating, electroless deposition, electroless plating, metalization, anodization or other surface modification processes and materials
• Process-structure-properties-performance fundamentals in plating metallic materials
• Familiarity with process optimization and failure modes for insulator materials
• Agile project management and task execution
• Strong problem solving skills, ability to approach new problems with creativity
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, technical staff, and others
• Familiarity with nuclear and plasma effects on material properties and performance an asset

Bonus points for:

• Experience making and justifying decisions in fast paced engineering settings
• Experience with corrosion and selecting plating materials for anti-corrosion purposes
• Experience with galling and selecting plating materials for anti-galling purposes
• Authoring of materials standard specifications
• Communicating with technical teams at vendors and suppliers
• Taking under-defined problems and driving them to a state of completion
• Experience in communicating materials design and development methods and metrics to non-technical audiences

Must-have Requirements:

• Perform activities such as typing, standing, or sitting for extended periods of time
• Dedication to safety to mitigate industrial hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, and cryogenics
• Exposure to high and low temperature testing environments, high voltage testing environments, small quantities of acids/etchants
• Willingness to travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call occasionally

$80,000 - $180,000 a year

Salary range for this full-time position + equity + benefits. The actual salary will depend on level, location, qualifications, and experience. The range displayed on each job posting reflects new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Benefits include:

• Competitive compensation with equity
• 12.5 Company-wide Holidays
• Flexible vacation days
• 10 sick days
• Generous parental leave policy
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with employer matching
• Professional growth opportunities
• Team-building activities

#LI-Hybrid

At CFS, we excel in fast-paced environments, driven by our values of integrity, execution, impact, and self-critique. As we grow, we’re eager to bring on mission-driven folks who offer diverse perspectives and fresh ways to tackle challenges. We value diversity deeply and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer by choice. We consider all qualified applicants equally, regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, protected veteran status, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or any other basis protected by law.