Technical Program Manager

Oklo; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonuses

401(k)

Health insurance

Job summary

Oklo is seeking a Technical Program Manager for its Recycling Division in Santa Clara, CA. The role leads technical projects with DOE national laboratories and government partners, turning opportunities into executed agreements and work packages.

You will coordinate with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and leadership to manage contracts and deliverables. The ideal candidate has 3+ years in technical program management, strong communication, and experience with government contracting and lab

Qualifications

• 3+ years in technical project/program management with external partners.
• Experience with government contracting and national laboratories.
• Ability to coordinate scopes of work, work packages, budgets, schedules and milestones.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physical science, or related field.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate Legal, Procurement, Finance, technical teams, and leadership.
• Strong project controls and organizational skills; manage multiple agreements concurrently.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of technical projects with DOE national laboratories and other government partners.
• Serve as the primary point of contact and principal investigator for national laboratory collaborations.
• Negotiate and coordinate contracts, subcontracts, cooperative agreements, and other collaboration mechanisms.
• Collaborate with laboratory partners and internal teams to define objectives, work plans, deliverables and IP considerations.
• Interface with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Recycling leadership to resolve issues.
• Manage contract deliverables, milestones, invoices, and funding profiles through closeout.
• Maintain governance, risk tracking, and clear communication across teams.
• Monitor partner performance and drive timely resolution of issues.
• Identify opportunities by translating Recycling Division needs into project concepts.

Skills

Technical leadership

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional

DOE collaboration

Regulatory compliance

Budgeting

Negotiation

Contracting familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or physical science

Tools

MS Project

Excel

Job description

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Technical Program Manager to join Oklo's Recycling Division. We are looking to fill this role immediately.

Position Description

The Technical Program Manager will lead the development and execution of technical projects with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories and other government partners, turning strategic opportunities into well-defined agreements, work packages, and delivered results.

The Technical Program Manager will serve as the primary point of contact and, where appropriate, principal investigator for national laboratory collaborations. You will work across Recycling engineering teams and interface closely with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Recycling leadership to negotiate, establish, and execute contracts, cooperative agreements, and related project mechanisms.

This role is for a technically fluent program leader who can develop new opportunities, shape ambiguous ideas into executable projects, and manage complex external partnerships from concept through closeout. Success requires strong technical judgment grounded in relevant experience, disciplined delivery management, and the ability to navigate technical, contractual, financial, and legal considerations in a fast-moving, highly regulated environment.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Serve as Oklo's primary point of contact and, as assigned, principal investigator for national laboratory projects and other government-funded collaborations related to spent nuclear fuel recycling and pyroprocessing technology.
• Develop and manage project scope, statements of work, work packages, budgets, schedules, roles, success criteria, and acceptance criteria with national laboratory partners.
• Lead negotiations and coordinate internal approvals for contracts, subcontracts, cooperative agreements, Strategic Partnership Projects, CRADAs, DOE funding agreements, and other collaboration mechanisms.
• Collaborate with laboratory partners and internal technical teams to develop collaborative project content, including technical objectives, work plans, deliverables, intellectual property considerations, contracting avenues, and resource commitments.
• Interface with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Recycling leadership to establish agreements and resolve contractual, financial, intellectual property, compliance, and execution issues.
• Manage contract deliverables, technical reports, milestones, invoices, funding profiles, action items, and overall work delivery through project completion and closeout.
• Maintain clear project governance, decision rights, meeting cadence, risk and issue tracking, change control, and communication across Oklo and laboratory teams.
• Monitor partner performance and project health; identify scope, schedule, cost, legal, or technical issues early and drive timely resolution or escalation.
• Develop new collaboration opportunities by translating Recycling Division needs and strategic priorities into project concepts suitable for national laboratory or DOE engagement.
• Solicit, evaluate, and mature project proposals from internal Recycling teams, coordinating leadership prioritization and partner engagement.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3+ years of experience in technical project or program management, national laboratory engagement, government contracting, research administration, engineering management, or a related role.
• Experience managing complex, cross-functional technical projects involving external partners, contractual deliverables, budgets, schedules, and milestones.
• Experience developing scopes of work, work packages, project plans, reports, or other formal technical deliverables.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physical science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate Legal, Procurement, Finance, technical teams, and leadership to establish and execute agreements.
• Strong project controls and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple agreements, deadlines, funding constraints, and stakeholder commitments concurrently.
• Experience identifying funding opportunities, developing project concepts or proposals, and building collaborative relationships with government and laboratory stakeholders.
• Comfort operating in a matrixed environment, influencing without direct authority, and working through ambiguity.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical, contractual, financial, and legal considerations clearly to different audiences.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience collaborating with DOE national laboratories or DOE offices and programs, including DOE-NE, DOE-ID, DOE-OSO, ARPA-E, DOE-SC, DOE-OTT, or DOE-NNSA.
• Experience developing or administering Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Strategic Partnership Projects, interagency agreements, grants, cooperative agreements, subcontracts, or similar mechanisms.
• Familiarity with government contracting, intellectual property, export control, data rights, compliance, and other legal considerations associated with research and development partnerships.
• Technical experience in nuclear energy, fuel cycle, chemical processing, advanced manufacturing, or another highly regulated engineering environment.

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager who is:

• An excellent communicator: Clear, concise, and credible; able to align technical, commercial, legal, and leadership stakeholders around decisions and actions.
• Technically fluent and curious: Comfortable engaging with engineering and research details to understand objectives, assumptions, interfaces, risks, and deliverables.
• Execution-oriented: Skilled at converting opportunities into scoped agreements, accountable owners, measurable milestones, and sustained follow-through.
• Commercially and contractually aware: Able to recognize how scope, funding, intellectual property, data rights, and agreement terms affect project execution.
• A systems thinker: Able to connect laboratory work with Recycling Division priorities and understand how technical, contractual, financial, and organizational decisions interact.
• Collaborative and influential: Builds trust with laboratory partners and internal teams and drives alignment and closure without depending on formal authority.
• Entrepreneurial and adaptable: Proactively identifies opportunities, shapes new project concepts, and remains effective when requirements or funding paths are still emerging.
• Strategic and detail-oriented: Connects individual agreements and deliverables to the broader Recycling strategy while maintaining disciplined control of commitments and deadlines.
• Mission- and safety-driven: Motivated to advance first-of-a-kind nuclear technology while maintaining technical rigor, compliance, and strong stewardship of public and company resources.

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.

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.

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 first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values

Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.

Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.

Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.

Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.

Candidates should be aware that employment may be contingent upon successful completion of a drug screening, and employees may be subject to drug testing at any time in accordance with company policy and applicable laws.

As set forth in Oklo’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.