Vice President, Engineering

The Nuclear Company; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 250,000 - 278,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

401k with company match

Job summary

The Nuclear Company is seeking a Vice President, Engineering to lead the engineering organization for a fleet of nuclear power plants. You will build an owner’s engineering team and coordinate reactor technology, architect-engineer partners, EPCs, suppliers, utilities, regulators, and construction teams into a disciplined delivery model.

You will provide full lifecycle project support from design through construction, commissioning, and operations, emphasizing constructability, operability, and

Qualifications

• Senior leadership in nuclear engineering with strong design, construction, commissioning, operations, major projects, or asset management experience.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and manage interfaces with licensing, procurement, construction, and operations.
• Strong understanding of nuclear plant systems, configuration management, design control, and industry standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering organization to build a high-performing multidisciplinary team.
• Establish engineering management systems, structure, authorities, and decision rights for multiple projects.
• Recruit and develop leaders across mechanical, electrical, civil/structural, I&C, systems, and engineering programs.
• Drive a culture of technical rigor, accountability, speed, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee full lifecycle engineering from site development through operations and turnover.
• Ensure engineering maturity supports procurement and construction with minimal rework.
• Incorporate constructability, operability, lessons learned, and lessons from operating reactors into design decisions.
• Interface with reactor technology providers, EPCs, utilities, and vendors to ensure integrated delivery.
• Develop repeatable fleet processes, standardization, and knowledge reuse.
• Provide executive technical leadership and clear communication to executives and stakeholders.

Skills

Nuclear engineering leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Project lifecycle management

Regulatory understanding

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Professional Engineer license preferred

Advanced degree

Job description

About the role

The Nuclear Company is seeking a Vice President, Engineering to lead the engineering organization responsible for the successful development and execution of a fleet of nuclear power plants.

This is a senior leadership role for an experienced nuclear professional who has spent significant time in the realities of the industry—design, construction, commissioning, operations, major projects, and/or asset management—and understands what it takes to move a nuclear project from engineering definition into construction and ultimately safe, reliable operation.

The VP, Engineering will build and lead an owner's engineering organization capable of integrating reactor technology, architect-engineer partners, EPC organizations, suppliers, utilities, regulators, and construction teams into a disciplined and repeatable delivery model, providing full lifecycle project support from early design through construction, commissioning, and operations.

We are looking for a builder, operator, and engineering leader —someone who combines deep nuclear judgment with the urgency and pragmatismrequiredto build the next generation of American nuclear infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Lead the Engineering Organization

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary nuclear engineering organization.
• Establish the engineering management system, organizational structure, technical authorities, design responsibilities, and decision rightsrequiredto execute multiple nuclear projects.
• Recruit and develop leaders across key disciplines including mechanical, electrical, civil/structural, I&C, systems, configuration management, design engineering, and engineering programs.
• Create a culture of technical rigor, accountability, speed, and continuous improvement.

Own Engineering Execution

• Provide executive leadership for engineering across the full project lifecycle—from site development and design through procurement, construction, commissioning, turnover, and operations.
• Establish engineering plans, priorities, schedules, deliverables, and performance metrics aligned with overall project execution.
• Ensure engineering is sufficiently mature to support procurement and construction whenrequired, minimizing field changes, rework, and schedule disruption.
• Drive resolution of complex technical issues and ensure engineering decisions balance nuclear safety, constructability, operability, cost, schedule, and lifecycle performance.
• Establish disciplined design-change, configuration-management, technical-document, and engineering-change-control processes.

Build for Constructability and Operability

• Bring an operator’s and constructor’s mindset to engineering decisions.
• Ensure designs incorporate lessons learned from operating nuclear plants and recent new-build programs.
• Integrate construction sequencing, modularization, supply-chain realities, commissioning requirements, maintenance, reliability, and long-term plant operations into design decisions.
• Partner closely with Construction, Project Management, Supply Chain, Quality, Licensing, Operations, and Commissioning toeliminateorganizational handoffs and solve problems as one integrated project team.
• Champion standardization and resist unnecessary project-specific customization.

Manage Engineering Partners and Suppliers

• Serve as the senior technical interface with reactor technology providers, architect-engineers, EPC partners, utilities, major equipment suppliers, and other engineering organizations.
• Establish clear scopes, interfaces, deliverables, technical requirements, and accountability across engineering partners.
• Evaluate engineering performance and intervene quickly when technical, organizational, or execution issues threaten project outcomes.
• Ensure supplier engineering and vendor technical information are integrated into the overall plant design on schedule.

Create a Repeatable Fleet Model

• Develop engineering processes that support a fleet-build strategy rather than a series of one-off projects .
• Capture and systematically incorporate lessons learned from each project intosubsequentunits.
• Drive design standardization, repeatability, configuration control, and reuse of engineering work products.
• Identifyopportunities to use technology, data, automation, and AI to improve engineering productivity, knowledge management, design assurance, and decision-making.
• Build institutional engineering capability that compounds as the fleet grows.

Provide Executive Technical Leadership

• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to the executive leadership team on engineering risk, project readiness, technical strategy, and major project decisions.
• Clearly communicate complex engineering issues and tradeoffs to executives, boards, investors, utilities, regulators, and project partners.
• Establish an environment where issues are surfaced early, challenged constructively, and resolved decisively.
• Maintain an uncompromising commitment to nuclear safety, quality, and regulatory compliance while continuously challenging the organization to execute better and faster.

Experience

• 20+ years of engineering and leadership experience in the nuclear power industry, major power generation, or similarly complex regulated infrastructure.
• Significant experiencewith commercial nuclear power plants and/or nuclear new-build projects .
• Demonstrated leadership across multiple phases of the nuclear lifecycle,including engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, major projects, or asset management.
• Deep understanding of nuclear plant systems, engineering programs, configuration management, design control, and industry standards.
• Strong working knowledge of the interfaces between engineering, licensing, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operations.
• Experience leading large multidisciplinary engineering teams and external engineering organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to managearchitect-engineers, OEMs, EPC organizations, utilities, and major suppliers.
• Experience resolving complex technical and project execution challenges where safety, quality, cost, and schedule must all be considered.
• Strong understanding of the lessons learned from recent U.S. and international nuclear construction programs.
• Proven ability to develop people, build organizations,establishprocesses, and create accountability in rapidly growing environments.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline; advanced degree and/or Professional Engineer license preferred.
• Competitive compensation packages
• 401k with company match

Estimated Starting Salary Range

The estimated starting salary range for this role is $250,000 - $278,000 annually less applicable withholdings and deductions, paid on a bi-weekly basis. The actual salary offered may vary based on relevant factors as determined in the Company’s discretion, which may include experience, qualifications, tenure, skill set, availability of qualified candidates, geographic location, certifications held, and other criteria deemed pertinent to the particular role.

EEO Statement

The Nuclear Company is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an environment of inclusion in the workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We prohibit discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, compensation, and termination.

Export Control

Certain positions at The Nuclear Company may involve access to information and technology subject to export controls under U.S. law. Compliance with these export controls may result in The Nuclear Company limiting its consideration of certain applicants.