Strike Engineer

Openkrill; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonuses

Health insurance

401(k)

Job summary

Oklo is seeking a Strike Engineer to own highly ambiguous problems across engineering domains. This senior role may serve as individual contributor, technical lead, or interim manager, moving between programs and establishing durable execution paths.

You will embed in priority programs, define problems from first principles, and drive verified closure with cross-functional teams, ensuring safety and quality in a fast-paced startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 2+ years solving complex engineering problems from definition through design and handoff.
• Breadth across engineering domains with depth in at least one area (mechanical, electrical, software, etc.).

Responsibilities

• Embed in high-priority programs to rapidly understand systems and failures.
• Define problems from first principles and identify testable questions.
• Work hands-on across design, prototyping, testing, and field execution as needed.
• Establish execution plans with owners, risks, and closure criteria.
• Diagnose failures using data, experiments, and root-cause analysis.
• Lead cross-functional work and transfer ownership to long-term teams.

Skills

First principles reasoning

Cross-functional collaboration

Hands-on engineering

Strong communication

Adaptive learning

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or related technical field

Equivalent practical experience

Tools

CAD

Modeling

Data analysis

Scripting

Prototyping

Job description

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

Position Description

The Strike Engineer is a senior, highly adaptable engineer who reports to the Engineering Strike Team Lead and takes ownership of Oklo's highest-priority, most ambiguous technical problems. This person moves between programs, builds context quickly, reduces problems to first principles, and stays accountable through verified resolution. Depending on the need, the Strike Engineer may serve as a hands‑on individual contributor, technical lead, or interim manager. They establish a durable path, help staff the work, transfer ownership to the right long‑term team, and then take on the next priority.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Embed in high-priority engineering programs and rapidly develop a working understanding of the system, constraints, stakeholders, and current failure modes.
• Define problems from first principles by separating facts from assumptions, identifying the governing physics and interfaces, and reducing uncertainty to testable questions.
• Work hands‑on across design, analysis, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, software and data, systems integration, and field execution as the problem requires.
• Establish a practical execution plan with owners, decision points, schedule, risks, and objective completion criteria, then drive the work through verified closure.
• Diagnose technical and operational failures using data, experiments, direct observation, and disciplined root‑cause analysis.
• Make sound engineering tradeoffs under uncertainty while accounting for safety, regulatory requirements, quality, cost, schedule, operability, and manufacturability.
• Temporarily lead a project or team when needed by clarifying priorities, coordinating cross‑functional work, removing blockers, and communicating decisions and risks.
• Help recruit and onboard permanent owners, then transfer stable scope with clear documentation, open risks, decisions, and next steps.
• Create reusable tools, processes, design standards, or technical documentation when they will prevent recurring problems or accelerate future work.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 2 or more years of experience solving complex engineering problems from definition through design, execution, validation, and handoff.
• Technical breadth across multiple engineering domains and deep expertise in at least one area such as mechanical, electrical, controls, software, systems, manufacturing, test, thermal‑fluid, structural, or nuclear engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to reason from first principles, challenge unsupported assumptions, and validate conclusions with analysis, tests, or operating data.
• Hands‑on ability to use the tools needed to move work forward, which may include modeling, CAD, calculations, test equipment, scripting, data analysis, or prototyping.
• Experience leading cross‑functional technical work without relying on formal authority, including stepping into temporary management responsibilities when needed.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including concise decision records, technical plans, risk summaries, and executive‑level updates.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience in the nuclear industry, advanced reactor development, commercial power generation, national laboratories, or another safety‑critical energy environment.
• Experience delivering hardware or integrated systems in a regulated, high‑consequence, or quality‑controlled environment.
• Experience starting a new program, recovering a stalled project, or resolving a persistent technical or operational problem.
• Experience with hardware‑software integration, automation, controls, data systems, or test infrastructure.
• Experience hiring, developing, or onboarding engineers and transferring work to a durable long‑term owner.

Competencies

• Able to move across systems, mechanical, electrical, controls, software and data, manufacturing, and test work, while recognizing when specialist depth is required.
• Able to change altitude quickly, from detailed technical work to project leadership and temporary people management, without losing clarity or accountability.
• Passionate about clean energy
• An optimist at heart
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• 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
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions to technical problems
• An excellent writer who can write in a modern active voice, so make your cover letter compelling and write it well!
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally

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.

About Oklo travel requirements:

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 events or gatherings. For the first two weeks of onboarding, employees are required to be in person at headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $120,000-$170,000

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, bonuses, competitive pay, 401(k), health insurance (with employer contribution), HSA, FSA, flexible work hours, wellness credits, and other benefits.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Only applicants who meet the definition of a U.S. person under applicable laws may be eligible.

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