Senior RF Plasma Heating Scientist — Fusion Energy

Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 150,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

13 Company-wide Holidays

Flexible vacation days

10 sick days

Parental leave policy

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with employer matching

Professional growth opportunities

Team-building activities

Job summary

Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC is seeking a Principal Scientist - Radio Frequency Plasma Heating to lead simulations and testing of the SPARC ICRH/ICDC systems, and to help commission and operate high-power plasmas. You will model RF antennas, develop control interfaces, and collaborate across universities and national labs.

The role requires a PhD in plasma physics with 7+ years in RF heating and plasma experiments, plus hands-on hardware development and FE-tool experience.

Qualifications

• PhD in plasma physics or closely related discipline.
• 7+ years post-degree experience with RF heating, current drive or discharge cleaning in fusion plasmas.
• Experience running experiments on tokamaks, stellarators, or similar plasma confinement devices.
• Experience developing hardware for plasma physics experiments.
• Experience with COMSOL, ANSYS HFSS, CST, or similar finite element tools.
• Desire for active participation in tokamak design and operations.
• Expertise in ICRF, plasma physics, fusion engineering, and fusion power plant design.

Responsibilities

• Simulate the SPARC ICRH antennas and RF network system to inform commissioning and operation.
• Contribute to testing of ICRH/ICDC components.
• Inform the implementation of the RF control system and operator interfaces.
• Contribute to developing commissioning and operation plans and procedures for the ICRH/ICDC system.
• Commission the SPARC ICRH/ICDC system into early plasmas.
• Operate the SPARC ICRH system during Q>1 and high power DT plasmas.
• Study the physics of radio frequency waves in SPARC.
• Provide input to ARC design through simulation and modeling efforts.
• Work with multi-institutional team of collaborators from universities and national labs.

Skills

RF heating experience

Tokamak experiments

Hardware development

Integrated physics & engineering

RF diagnostics & control

Team collaboration

Plasma physics expertise

I&C RF systems design

Education

PhD in plasma physics

Tools

COMSOL

ANSYS HFSS

CST

Python

Job description

Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC is seeking a Principal Scientist - Radio Frequency Plasma Heating to lead simulations and testing of the SPARC ICRH/ICDC systems, and to help commission and operate high-power plasmas. You will model RF antennas, develop control interfaces, and collaborate across universities and national labs.

The role requires a PhD in plasma physics with 7+ years in RF heating and plasma experiments, plus hands-on hardware development and FE-tool experience.