Senior Technical Program Manager

Thea Energy Inc.; Kearny (NJ); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Employee equity stock options

20 days PTO

Job summary

Thea Energy Inc. is seeking a Technical Program Manager to lead a large, complex magnet technology development program in the fusion energy sector.

You will drive manufacturing development from concept to pilot and scale to commercial ramps, coordinating physics, mechanical, magnet, and manufacturing teams. The role requires 5+ years of multidisciplinary engineering program leadership, strong communication, and a track record in high-velocity startup environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years leading multidisciplinary engineering programs with large hardware.
• Experience in manufacturing ramp and pilot scale milestones.
• Ability to work with physics, mechanical, magnet and manufacturing engineering teams.
• Strong design-to-manufacture process understanding.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional manufacturing programs from concept through pilot production.
• Manage external vendors ensuring specs, quality and delivery.
• Guide transition from prototype to large-scale manufacturing.
• Provide regular program updates to leadership and stakeholders.
• Establish and track manufacturing readiness metrics.
• Identify and mitigate technical, schedule, budget, and quality risks.

Skills

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

5+ years leading complex engineering

cross-functional leadership

manufacturing ramp experience

excellent communication

risk & mitigation planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Manufacturing management

Job description

About Thea Energy:

Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering to create a faster and simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy. The company is reinventing the stellarator using computer-controlled arrays of planar coils thereby replacing the intricate, complex modular magnets required in all other stellarator architectures. Thea Energy is on a mission to create a limitless source of zero emission energy for a sustainable future.

Position Overview:

Thea Energy is seeking an experienced and motivated Technical Program Manager to lead a large, complex custom product development program within the fusion energy industry. This is a highly visible role in the organization leading manufacturing development of core magnet technology. This role will act as a force multiplier by increasing development velocity and raising the bar on execution standards. You will oversee the scaling of magnet production from concept to pilot and commercial scale ramps that will advance fusion technology.

Key Responsibility Areas:

• Lead cross-functional manufacturing and operations programs from concept through pilot production, including process and equipment design, installation, qualification, and ramp.

• Oversee the selection, qualification, and management of external custom manufacturing vendors, ensuring adherence to specifications, quality standards, and delivery schedules.

• Guide the transition from prototype to large-scale manufacturing, including the integration of large equipment and continuous process manufacturing techniques.

• Provide regular, detailed program updates to leadership and stakeholders, highlighting progress, technical challenges, and proposed solutions.

• Establish and track key manufacturing readiness metrics (equipment readiness, process capability, throughput, yield etc.)

• Proactively identify and manage technical, schedule, budget, and quality risks. develop effective mitigation strategies and contingency plans.

Ideal Experience & Skillsets:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical field.

• 5+ years leading complex, multidisciplinary engineering programs ideally involving large scale hardware development in climate tech, aerospace, nuclear, or related industries.

• Demonstrated experience of working in a manufacturing ramp setting and delivering concept and pilot scale manufacturing development milestones.

• Demonstrated ability to work deeply with technical teams (physics, mechanical engineering, magnet engineering, manufacturing engineering) and solve first of a kind problems.

• Strong understanding of design and manufacturing processes and the realities of design, build, test cycles.

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence across engineering, operations, and leadership teams.

• Proven ability to distill complex technical programs into clear risks, decisions, and priorities for leadership audiences.

• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving startup environment, with high ownership and ambiguity.

Nice to have:

• Manufacturing roadmap development experience.

Company Benefits:

• Comprehensive health benefits (e.g. medical/dental/vision)

• Employee equity stock options

• 20 days PTO

$130,000 - $180,000 a year

Diversity and Inclusion:

Thea Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a company of diverse backgrounds. By creating a diverse environment, we will bring new ideas and approaches to solving some of the world’s hardest (and most important) problems. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, family or marital status, age, disability, veteran’s status, or other characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations.