Senior Materials Engineer, Fusion Diagnostics & SHM

Fusion Energy Base; Everett (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for

31 Days of PTO (vacation and sick)

10 Paid holidays, plus winter break

Up to 5% employer 401(k) match

Disability and life insurance

Parental leave and wellness stipend

Job summary

Helion is seeking a Senior Materials Engineer to lead materials health monitoring for fusion generators at our Everett, WA site. You will design, qualify, and deploy in-situ and ex-situ diagnostics to detect degradation under thermomechanical stress, radiation, high electric fields, and coolant environments, reporting to the Lead Materials Scientist.

You will work with Materials, Research, and Engineering teams to translate failure modes into signals and integrate diagnostics into hardware and

Qualifications

• BS with 10+ years, or MS/PhD with 5+ years, in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Applied Physics, Nuclear Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years (with PhD or MS) or 10+ years (with BS) of experience in at least one of: Materials diagnostics / NDE / SHM (strain, acoustic, optical, EM, fiberoptic, etc.).
• Familiarity with data analysis / feature extraction for degradation detection (Python preferred).
• Experience designing and executing coupled-stimuli experiments (e.g., thermomechanical, electrothermal, irradiation with stress)
• Experience embedding or integrating sensors into structural materials (ceramics, composites, polymers, or metals)

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy diagnostics for degradation and failure in fusion-relevant materials and components.
• Translate failure and degradation modes into measurable signals using sensors or indicators.
• Design and execute coupled-stimuli experiments and PIE to validate diagnostics.
• Build test matrices linking microstructure to sensor outputs and performance.
• Own diagnostics roadmap by translating risk into requirements.
• Collaborate with design engineers to embed diagnostics into hardware.
• Partner with modeling teams to integrate outputs into predictive models.
• Productize diagnostic methods for deployment in fusion environments.

Skills

Materials diagnostics / NDE / SHM

Python data analysis

Sensor integration

Thermo-mechanical testing

Education

BS in relevant field (Materials Science/Engineering)

MS/PhD in relevant field

Tools

Python

Job description

Helion is seeking a Senior Materials Engineer to lead materials health monitoring for fusion generators at our Everett, WA site. You will design, qualify, and deploy in-situ and ex-situ diagnostics to detect degradation under thermomechanical stress, radiation, high electric fields, and coolant environments, reporting to the Lead Materials Scientist.

You will work with Materials, Research, and Engineering teams to translate failure modes into signals and integrate diagnostics into hardware and