Senior System Engineer

Avalanche Energy; Tukwila (WA); Sur place; USD 120 000 - 170 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Medical, dental, vision

Holidays

Vacation time

Résumé du poste

Avalanche Energy is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to join our PMO and Systems Engineering team in Tukwila, WA. This hands-on role focuses on turning scientific objectives into executable technical work across Orbitron and FusionWERX programs.

You will collaborate with plasma physicists, mechanical, EE/DAQ, nuclear, and test infrastructure engineers to define requirements, architectures, interfaces, and verification approaches, advancing a transportable fusion platform with real-world

Qualifications

• 5+ years of systems engineering experience in multidisciplinary hardware or technology development.
• Experience applying core systems engineering practices: requirements, interfaces, architecture, verification & validation, risk management.
• Experience integrating across multiple technical disciplines and resolving system-level dependencies.
• Proven track record turning evolving problems into structured requirements and executable work.
• Experience delivering systems engineering artifacts at both system and detailed execution levels.
• Ability to lead technical reviews, trade studies, and cross-functional discussions with clear outcomes.
• Ability to adapt SE methods to program maturity and needs.
• Project management experience: schedule development, milestones, risk & issue tracking.

Responsabilités

• Lead systems engineering and technical integration across Orbitron and FusionWERX programs.
• Translate scientific needs into system requirements, architecture, interfaces, development plans, and verification strategies.
• Coordinate cross-disciplinary work and drive technical reviews, trade studies, and interface resolution.
• Define operations concepts, facility requirements, interfaces, and scope for the FusionWERX infrastructure.
• Manage cross-functional communications and document system-level decisions for an integrated test capability.

Connaissances

Systems engineering

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Requirements engineering

Technical risk management

Technical communication

Project management

Description du poste

Avalanche Energy is a Washington based startup building compact, deployable fusion systems through rapid hardware iteration. Rather than pursuing fusion as a single grid-scale outcome, Avalanche develops transportable fusion machines designed to be built, tested, and operated on short cycles, turning real hardware into steady progress. This approach enables near-term applications that demand extreme energy density and endurance, starting with fusion neutron production for radioisotope power and other defense and space uses, while advancing the underlying fusion platform. Backed by U.S. government programs and a team experienced in delivering complex systems, Avalanche is focused on building fusion that runs in the real world, not just on paper.

Avalanche might be a fit for you if:

You thrive in complex, technically demanding environments where the problems are not fully defined and the answers have to be built, not looked up. You are energized by bringing structure to ambiguity, connecting the work of scientists and engineers into coherent programs, and building the systems engineering foundations that scale. You are comfortable operating without a playbook, moving quickly across programs and disciplines, and earning credibility with technical subject matter experts through rigor and clarity. You care about doing the fundamentals of systems engineering well (requirements, interfaces, traceability, reviews) because you understand why they matter, not just because a process demands them.

About the Role

Avalanche Energy is hiring a Senior Systems Engineer to join our PMO and Systems Engineering team. This is a hands-on individual contributor role focused on systems engineering and technical program integration across Avalanche's fusion development programs.

You will work closely with plasma physicists, mechanical, EE/DAQ, nuclear, test infrastructure engineers to turn scientific objectives into executable technical work. Many of the problems you encounter will initially be incomplete, uncertain, or poorly structured.

The role requires someone who can move comfortably between system level thinking and detailed execution. One day may involve working with scientists to define what an experiment needs to demonstrate. Another may involve tracing an interface between a device, diagnostic, facility, and control system, preparing a technical review, or turning a developing architecture into requirements and an integrated device roadmap.

This role reports to the Head of PMO and Systems Engineering and operates as an embedded systems engineer and technical integrator within program teams.

Responsibilities:

This role serves as Systems Engineer and Technical Integrator across two core programs: the Orbitron Science Program and the FusionWERX infrastructure build-out.

Orbitron Science Program

• Lead systems engineering and technical integration for new Orbitron devices and major test capabilities from early concept through commissioning.
• Translate scientific and experimental needs into system requirements, architecture, interfaces, development plans, and verification approaches across hardware, diagnostics, controls, high voltage, and test infrastructure.
• Coordinate work across scientific and engineering disciplines, driving technical reviews, trade studies, interface resolution, and system-level decisions needed to deliver an integrated test capability.

FusionWERX Infrastructure Program

• Lead systems definition and technical integration for FusionWERX, including concept of operations, facility requirements, interfaces, and technical scope.
• Coordinate across facility engineering, neutronics, radiation safety, regulatory, operations, and experimental systems to identify and resolve cross-disciplinary requirements and interfaces.
• Lead system-level trade studies and technical definition activities, including coordination of external consultants, to turn evolving operational needs into an executable facility design.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of systems engineering experience in multidisciplinary hardware or technology development.
• Demonstrated experience applying core systems engineering practices, including requirements, interfaces, architecture, verification and validation, and technical risk management.
• Demonstrated experience integrating across multiple technical disciplines and resolving system-level dependencies, interfaces, and tradeoffs.
• Track record of turning incomplete or evolving technical problems into structured requirements, decisions, and executable development work.
• Experience personally producing systems engineering deliverables and working at both the system level and detailed execution level.
• Experience leading technical reviews, trade studies, or cross-functional engineering discussions and communicating outcomes clearly to technical and program leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt systems engineering methods to the maturity and needs of the program.
• Project management experience: schedule development, milestone tracking, risk and issue management.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience in a startup, R&D, or rapidly scaling organization where technical processes and ways of working are still evolving.
• Experience in plasma physics, applied physics, nuclear engineering, radiation systems, or another science intensive technical domain.
• Experience supporting government-funded development programs, including work with organizations such as DOE, DoD, DARPA, or NASA.
• Experience in aerospace, advanced propulsion, energy, or other complex multidisciplinary hardware development environments.
• Familiarity with regulated technical environments, including radiation safety, nuclear regulation, or export control requirements such as EAR/ITAR.

Additional Considerations

• Location: Onsite, Tukwila, WA (primary); periodic travel to FusionWERX facility in Richland, WA.
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• 10 paid holidays and a company-wide December holiday break.
• Generous paid vacation and sick time.
• Small, tight-knit team with low barriers to action.