Reactor or Fuel Design Engineer

Energy Northwest; Richland (WA); On-site; USD 126,000 - 158,000; Full time

Job summary

Energy Northwest’s Reactor Engineering and Fuel Design team provides independent engineering services to ensure safe, efficient core and fuel operations. This role leads complex analyses, mentors other engineers, and influences loading strategies for each operating cycle to support plant reliability and economic performance.

The Engineer Principal/Senior/Staff roles require formal engineering degrees or PE licensure with extensive nuclear experience, with 12‑hour outage shifts and on-site

Qualifications

• Qualified Reactor Engineer at a nuclear power plant.
• Core design, reload project management, or transient analysis.
• Programming skills (e.g. PowerShell or Python).
• Control rod and nuclear instrumentation monitoring and depletion.

Responsibilities

• Perform highly complex engineering analyses and designs in support of operations, systems, programs, audit inspections, and assessments requiring skills and experience gained through application of engineering methods and analysis, codes, standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Work with minimal supervision.
• Serve as an advisor providing advice and counsel on assignments concerned with specialized or unique engineering requirements. Solutions provided involve unconventional or innovative problem solving techniques.
• Provide technical leadership and training on highly complex or extended projects.
• Provide leadership of small groups to resolve complex issues.
• Provide technical direction and leadership routinely to other engineers; serve as a mentor. Provide training to others.
• Identify need and initiate development of new policies, programs, plans, and procedures to meet strategic objectives.
• Assure compliance with regulatory and industry guidance. Provide interpretation of industry guidance for application.
• Identify potential problems in design, quality, or operation and initiate corrective action.

Skills

Programming skills (PowerShell or Pyth

Core design experience

Transient analysis

Control rod & instrumentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

PE license

Job description

Richland, WA

Full time

REQ26_361

Posting closes at 11:59 PM the day before the listed end date.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite in Richland, WA.

The Reactor Engineering and Fuel Design Team works together to ensure the core and fuel operate safely, efficiently, and within limits. Engineers analyze core behavior, design and evaluate fuel assemblies, perform fuel vendor oversight, implement power maneuvers, and develop loading patterns and strategies for each operating cycle. This collaboration supports real‑time operations, long‑term fuel performance, and overall plant reliability and economics.

GENERAL SUMMARY

Provide independent engineering service and support to perform highly complex engineering tasks requiring specialized skills and broad experience in the application of engineering fundamentals in support of the design modification, operating, and independent assessment of Energy Northwest facilities. Serve as an advisor to others.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Perform highly complex engineering analyses and designs in support of operations, systems, programs, audit inspections, and assessments requiring skills and experience gained through application of engineering methods and analysis, codes, standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Work with minimal supervision.
• Serve as an advisor providing advice and counsel on assignments concerned with specialized or unique engineering requirements. Solutions provided involve unconventional or innovative problem solving techniques.
• Provide technical leadership and training on highly complex or extended projects.
• Provide leadership of small groups to resolve complex issues.
• Provide technical direction and leadership routinely to other engineers; serve as a mentor. Provide training to others.
• Identify need and initiate development of new policies, programs, plans, and procedures to meet strategic objectives.
• Assure compliance with regulatory and industry guidance. Provide interpretation of industry guidance for application.
• Identify potential problems in design, quality, or operation and initiate corrective action

Engineering employees are expected to be available and to support the following activities as a condition of employment with Energy Northwest:

• Emergency Response Organization (ERO) including being on-call (24/7) during your required team duty (2 weeks out of every 8 weeks).
• 12-hour work shifts during outages as part of our overall Outage support (24/7)
• Engineering duty cycle support (24/7) including call-out availability during your responsible duty assignment. (This is a shared responsibility across all engineering positions).

POSITION SPECIFIC DESIRED EXPERIENCE

• Qualified Reactor Engineer at a nuclear power plant
• Core design, reload project management, or transient analysis
• Programming skills (e.g. PowerShell or Python)
• Control rod and nuclear instrumentation monitoring and depletion

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Engineer Principal

Requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering from an accredited college or university and seven years of engineering experience;

OR a high school diploma or GED and PE license obtained by accredited examination plus eight years of engineering experience.

Engineer Senior

Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from an accredited college or university and three years of discipline specific engineering experience;

OR a PE license obtained by an accredited examination and five years of discipline specific engineering experience. High school diploma or GED is required.

Engineer Staff

Requires a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from an accredited college or university and at least one year of engineering experience;

OR a PE license obtained by an accredited examination and at least one year of engineering experience. A high school diploma or GED is required.

PAY RANGE

Engineer Principal Salary: $126,362 - $157,952

Engineer Senior Salary: $109,870 - $137,338

Staff Engineer Salary: $95,532 - $119,415

The salary listed represents the starting pay range for this position. Starting pay is calculated from the minimum of the salary range and actual individual placement within the range is determined based on the candidate's experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the role. The level and final offer will also take into account the candidate's overall qualifications.

INCENTIVE COMPENSATION

This position is eligible for an annual at-risk compensation (ARC) incentive plan. Incentives are earned based on agency performance against defined metrics and goals which follow eligibility rules within the ARC plan document.

BENEFITS

Energy Northwest (EN) provides a phenomenal benefits package. Washington State also has no state income tax, and the Tri-Cities provides a cost-of-living lower than the national average.

EN offers substantial retirement benefits through three retirement programs including the Washington State Public Employees' Retirement System pension plan (PERS), a 401(k) savings plan with an employer match component, and a 457(b) savings plan. EN also offers multiple options for medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance coverage. Other voluntary benefits may include flexible spending accounts (FSAs), tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, childcare subsides, health reimbursement arrangement (HRA VEBA), health savings account (HSA), supplemental life insurances, credit monitoring/identity theft insurance, and more! Qualifying employees will typically start a personal time accrual rate of 160 hours per year and EN provides nine paid holidays throughout the Calander year; personal time accruals grow significantly at various service intervals.

Energy Northwest does not provide employment visa sponsorship. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire and throughout employment.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, age, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Know Your Rights (PDF)

As a regional leader in clean energy generation and public power solutions, Energy Northwest develops, owns and operates a diverse mix of electricity generating resources, including hydro, solar, battery storage and wind projects – and the Northwest’s only nuclear power facility. Energy Northwest is a Washington state joint operating agency comprised of public power member utilities, serving more than 1.5 million customers. The agency continually explores new generation projects and solutions to meet its members’ needs.