Regulatory Engineer

Oklo Inc; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 82,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

flexible time off

equity

competitive pay

401k

health insurance

FSA

flexible work hours

Job summary

Oklo Inc. is seeking a Regulatory Engineer to navigate NRC licensing pathways for advanced fission technologies and contribute to design analysis. You will prepare licensing documents, perform regulatory research, and interface with engineering teams to craft compliant, fast-paced solutions.

The ideal candidate will be a strong writer with clear communication skills, capable of working in a startup environment and driving novel regulatory approaches.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in a technical field is required or preferred.
• Experience in a technical field beyond nuclear engineering is expected.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, review, and maintain licensing documentation (e.g. Final Safety Analysis Report).
• Plan, organize, and perform complex assignments in a team environment.
• Perform regulatory research on regulatory requirements, precedent, and guidance.
• Develop approaches to addressing regulations and guidance.
• Support or manage interactions on internal and external regulatory activities.
• Interface with technical engineering, including reviewing technical material.
• Perform design engineering work: provide feedback on topics of regulatory interest and document work with modern tools and techniques.
• Support or lead resolution of key strategic licensing issues.

Skills

Writing ability

Communication skills

Team player

Creative problem-solving

Detail-oriented

Education

Bachelors, Masters, or PhD in technical field (e.g., nuclear engineering, mechanical engineer, civil engineering, physics)

Experience in a technical field (not just nuclear engineering!)

Job description

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Regulatory Engineer to join our team.

Position Description

The Regulatory Engineer is responsible for both navigating the regulatory framework for licensing advanced fission technologies, as well as participating in the engineering design of those same technologies. From a regulatory and licensing perspective, the Regulatory Engineer is expected to have demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements for advanced reactor licensing, with an appreciation for the Oklo philosophy to approaching complex regulatory challenges. From an engineering perspective, the Regulatory Engineer is expected to contribute to the design analysis of Oklo advanced reactor technologies. Specific areas of design work will be determined by experience, background, and interest.

Specific responsibilities may include:

Responsibilities will differ depending on your background.

• Prepare, review, and maintain licensing documentation (e.g. Final Safety Analysis Report)
• Plan, organize, and perform complex assignments in a team environment
• Perform regulatory research on regulatory requirements, precedent, and guidance
• Develop approaches to addressing regulations and guidance
• Support or manage interactions on a variety of internal and external regulatory activities
• Interface with technical engineering, including reviewing technical material
• Perform design engineering work: provide technical feedback on topics of regulatory interest to quick-iterating design teams; document work using modern tools and techniques; and develop well-written, thoughtful, technical reports
• Support or lead resolution of key strategic licensing issue

We are looking for a Regulatory Engineer that is:

• Passionate about clean energy
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• Eager to work on a dynamic team, receive constructive feedback, and grow with us
• Willing to think differently and do things in new ways
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Excited to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about the problems they are solving, while not leaning only on what has been done before
• Eager to understand the complex regulatory framework for advanced reactor licensing
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions to technical and regulatory licensing challenges
• An excellent writer who can write in modern active voice, so make your cover letter compelling and write it well!
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally to a broad

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors, Masters, or PhD in technical field (e.g., nuclear engineering, mechanical engineer, civil engineering, physics)
• Qualifications will differ depending on your background, but experience in a technical field (not just nuclear engineering!) is expected.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or Department of Energy (DOE) requirements
• Experience with research and test reactors
• Experience with commercial nuclear reactors
• Experience with consensus-based nuclear and non-nuclear codes and standards

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites,and other company eventsor gatherings.

Salary: $82,000-$195,000

Salary may fall outside of the range provided and will be dependent on applicant experience.

Benefits

• flexible time off
• equity
• competitive pay
• 401k
• health insurance
• FSA
• flexible work hours
• other benefits

About Oklo Inc.

Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values

• Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
• Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
• Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
• Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.