Principal Nuclear Packaging Engineer

Paragon D&E; Grand Rapids (MI); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

401(k) matching

Health insurance

Health savings account

Life insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Referral program

Vision insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Employee assistance program

Profit sharing

Dental insurance

Job summary

Curie Nuclear Systems, a Paragon D&E company, is seeking a senior nuclear packaging expert to lead regulatory compliance, SAR/SARP development, and certification programs. You will own the technical case, coordinate with DOE/NRC, and manage large-scale packaging projects with a focus on safety and regulatory excellence.

The role offers remote work within the United States with regular travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and national sites.

Qualifications

• SARP authorship experience with NRC/DOE packaging.
• 10+ years in nuclear packaging or related field.
• Experience leading certification programs and regulatory interactions.
• Ability to manage subcontractors and multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Author and manage SAR/SARP and respond to NRC/DOE RFIs.
• Lead development and certification of Type B/Type AF packaging under 10 CFR 71.
• Apply NRC guides, DOT HMReg, ASME BPVC, and DOE orders.
• Coordinate regulators and customers; manage content amendments and licensing docs.
• Lead technical direction and governance for packaging programs.

Skills

SARP authorship

Regulatory compliance

DOE/NRC experience

Technical leadership

Subcontractor management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/Nuclear/related engineering

Tools

Engineering analysis tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

5225 33rd Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512

$150,000 – $185,000 a year

Full-time

Job details

$150,000 – $185,000 a year

• Referral program


• Tuition reimbursement


• Parental leave


• 401(k)


• Health insurance


• 401(k) matching


• Paid time off


• Vision insurance


• Health savings account


• Dental insurance


• Life insurance


• Employee assistance program


• Profit sharing

Full-time

Hybrid work in 5225 33rd Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512

Curie Nuclear Systems, a Paragon D&E company · Remote, USA · Regular travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan and customer and regulatory sites nationwide · Full-time, exempt

You have written the SARP. You have answered the RAIs. You have watched a package go from concept to Certificate of Compliance. Only a short list of engineers in the country can say that. We are looking for one of them to become the founding technical authority of a new nuclear company.

If you built your career on Type B and Type AF packaging at Savannah River, Oak Ridge, Hanford, Idaho, Los Alamos or a commercial packaging vendor, this is your chance to stop being one voice in a large program. Here, your judgment sets the technical direction, your name is on the certification work, and you help build the business from the ground floor, with an 80-year-old manufacturer behind you.

Curie Nuclear Systems is the new home for Paragon D&E’s nuclear business. Paragon has served the nuclear market for over15 years as one of its business units; we are now standing it up as its own company so it can grow with dedicated leadership, focus and identity.

Behind Curie is Paragon D&E, a family-owned advanced manufacturer with more than 80 years of history in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Paragon began in injection and compression tooling and now builds for aerospace, defense, nuclear, heavy truck, automotive, agricultural, and oil and gas customers. That means Curie engineers have something most packaging programs do not: a state-of-the-art machining facility and a manufacturing team down the hall, not across a contract.

We hold ourselves to the standards nuclear work demands. Honesty and integrity are how we earn trust, and trust is the cornerstone of how we do business with government, national laboratory and commercial customers.

The Role

You will be Curie’s senior subject matter expert in nuclear packaging design, certification and regulatory compliance, reporting directly to the General Manager. You own the technical case: the SARP, the content evaluations, the RAI responses, and the analysis and testing programs that stand behind them.

You will also be the face of Curie’s technical credibility with DOE, NRC, SRNL, other national laboratories and DOD customers. Business development is a shared effort. Paragon leadership drives commercial strategy; you bring the expertise and relationships that make customers confident in our work.

This is a principal-level role with real scope. You will run certification efforts and DOE grant and container build programs end to end, direct specialist subcontractors, and work alongside our manufacturing and quality teams to turn certified designs into built hardware.

What You Will Do

Technical and regulatory leadership

• Author and manage Safety Analysis Reports for Packaging (SAR/SARP) and lead responses to Requests for Additional Information from NRC and DOE Certification Officials.


• Lead development and certification of Type B and Type AF packaging under 10 CFR 71.


• Apply NRC regulatory guides, DOT hazardous materials regulations, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code sections, and DOE orders governing packaging and transportation.


• Perform nuclear content evaluations to match packaging configurations to each customer mission.


• Manage content amendments and keep licensing documentation current.

Program and subcontractor management

• Scope, direct and critically review subcontracted thermal, structural, shielding and criticality analyses, and make sure each one holds up to regulatory review.


• Define and run regulatory testing programs for new containers with qualified test subcontractors.


• Manage DOE grant programs and container build programs from award through completion.


• Coordinate suppliers and subcontractors on physical builds of packaging components and hardware.


• Create and maintain Manufacturing and Inspection Plans, Engineering Document Requirements and other NQA-1 documentation, and support NQA-1 audits with the Quality team.

Customers, stakeholders and growth

• Build trusted, long-term relationships with SRNL, DOE sites, other national laboratories and DOD customers.


• Host and lead customer and regulatory visits, at our facility and theirs.


• Provide technical input and estimating support for proposals on new packaging opportunities.


• Represent Curie at industry conferences and packaging meetings, and help shape nuclear business strategy as its senior technical voice.

What You Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Nuclear, Chemical or a related engineering discipline.


• 10+ years in nuclear packaging, radioactive materials transportation, or a closely related field.


• Demonstrated SARP authorship and hands‑on experience with DOE and NRC package certification processes and 10 CFR 71 compliance.


• Experience scoping and managing subcontracted shielding, criticality, thermal and structural analyses, and the judgment to tell when the work is not good enough.


• Exceptional technical writing and the presence to represent the company credibly with regulators, national laboratories and senior government stakeholders.


• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.


• Willingness to travel regularly to Grand Rapids, Michigan and to customer and regulatory sites across the US.

What Sets You Apart

• Packaging or certification experience at Savannah River (SRS or SRNL), Oak Ridge (ORNL or Y-12), Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory, Los Alamos, Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, Argonne, or within DOE’s packaging certification community.


• Commercial packaging experience with a cask or container vendor, or with a utility, fuel cycle or advanced reactor company moving fissile material.


• Working knowledge of NQA-1 quality programs and audits.


• Grant writing experience, especially for DOE programs.


• Hands‑on experience with engineering analysis tools used in packaging work.

Don’t check every box? If you have certified packages and written SARPs, we want to talk to you.

Where and How You Will Work

This role is remote, and you can live anywhere in the United States. You will not have to relocate to Michigan or near a DOE site.

You will travel regularly to our manufacturing facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and to customer sites, national laboratories, test facilities and regulatory offices across the country. Expected travel is unknown at this time.

The work itself is mostly desk‑based: writing, reviewing and meeting. Reasonable accommodations are available to help qualified individuals with disabilities perform the essential functions of the job.

Why Curie

• Build something. You join at the founding of a new nuclear company, not the middle of a legacy program. Your standards become our standards.


• See your designs made. Certified designs go to a manufacturing floor we own, with machinists and quality staff you know by name.


• Stability with agility. You get the backing of a family‑owned company with 80+ years in business and the speed of a focused new venture.


• Live where you want. Remote work with purposeful travel, not a mandatory move to a site town.


• Be the authority. You report to the General Manager and your technical judgment carries real weight.

Compensation: $150k to $180k base salary, plus bonus/profit sharing potential, benefits, 401(k), PTO and other offerings.

Export control requirements: This position requires access to technical data and technology controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR, 22 CFR Parts 120–130) and other U.S. export control laws. To comply with these regulations, applicants must be a U.S. person as defined in 22 CFR 120.62: a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an individual granted asylum or refugee status in the United States. Proof of U.S. person status will be required before an offer of employment is finalized.

Curie Nuclear Systems and Paragon D&E are equal opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Pay: $150,000.00 – $185,000.00 per year

• 401(k)


• 401(k) matching


• Employee assistance program


• Health insurance


• Health savings account


• Life insurance


• Paid time off


• Parental leave


• Referral program


• Vision insurance

Government contracts require all employees at Paragon D&E to be U.S. Citizens.