R&D Technical Project Lead: Cross-Functional Delivery

NextGenEnergyJobs; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Commonwealth Fusion Systems seeks an experienced project leader to manage a portfolio of R&D initiatives and guide teams across executive, engineering, and external partners. You will drive scalable, repeatable processes during scale-up efforts and ensure delivery against strategic targets with strong collaboration and risk oversight.

The role emphasizes coordinating staffing, documenting plans, and maintaining schedule integrity while navigating tradeoffs between research goals and

Qualifications

• Experience leading cross-functional teams in R&D projects.
• Ability to manage timelines and risks across complex programs.
• Willingness to travel and work nights/weekends as needed.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of small to mid-sized R&D projects, leading and advising others in project management best practices.
• Frequently act as the primary technical liaison with the executive team, internal engineering teams, and external project management of the scale-up efforts into repeatable sustained operational processes.
• Understand and manage technical tradeoffs between research objectives and operational needs, including but not limited to scalability of the solution, design for manufacturability, material selection, coating technologies, tolerancing, etc.
• Work with others to ensure your projects are staffed sufficiently with the right skills mix to ensure the projects deliver on their commitments.
• Develop and document comprehensive project plans, outlining project scope, goals, deliverables, resources, and timeline to meet strategic targets.
• Lead a cross-functional team (matrix) composed of engineers, designers, analysts, procurement specialists, and other stakeholders to meet the requirements of the execution plan.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performance team culture to drive project execution and achieve collective goals.
• Monitor project timelines rigorously, identifying potential delays, devising, and implementing mitigation strategies to maintain project schedule.
• Lead the active management of risks throughout the project lifecycle: Identify risks, develop & drive mitigation plans, and keeping stakeholders informed about progress of risks through regular updates & risk reporting.

Job description

Commonwealth Fusion Systems seeks an experienced project leader to manage a portfolio of R&D initiatives and guide teams across executive, engineering, and external partners. You will drive scalable, repeatable processes during scale-up efforts and ensure delivery against strategic targets with strong collaboration and risk oversight.

The role emphasizes coordinating staffing, documenting plans, and maintaining schedule integrity while navigating tradeoffs between research goals and