Distinguished Engineer, Reactor Systems

Company Overview

Kairos Power is a new nuclear energy technology and engineering company whose mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy, with the ultimate goal to dramatically improve people’s quality of life while protecting the environment. This goal will be accomplished through the commercialization of the fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (FHR) that can be deployed with robust safety, affordable costs, and flexible operation to accommodate the expansion of variable renewables.

Job Summary

The Reactor Systems department is seeking a highly accomplished Distinguished Engineer to provide senior technical leadership across reactor system design, integration, analysis, testing, qualification, and deployment for Kairos Power’s fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology. This role will establish the long-term technical vision, engineering strategy, and architectural direction for reactor systems to ensure that reactor system designs meet safety, performance, quality, manufacturability, maintainability, and deployment objectives.

The Distinguished Engineer provides independent technical leadership across multiple engineering organizations, shaping reactor system architecture, design philosophy, engineering standards and technical strategy for Kairos Power’s advanced reactor program. This individual serves as a trusted technical advisor to executive leadership, resolves the organization’s most complex technical challenges, and influences technical decisions supporting commercialization of Kairos Power’s reactor technology.  

Responsibilities

• Provide technical authority to shape the long-term technical vision, system architecture, and engineering strategy for Reactor Systems consistent with Kairos Power’s commercialization roadmap.
• Serve as the highest-level technical authority for reactor systems design philosophy, integration strategy, and technical decision-making.
• Drive enterprise-wide technical consistency across reactor systems design, integration, analysis, testing, qualification, and deployment activities.
• Guide development and oversight of reactor system architecture, system requirements, design bases, interface definitions, verification plans, and supporting technical documentation.
• Lead resolution of complex cross-disciplinary technical issues involving reactor vessel systems, reactor internals, auxiliary systems, nuclear design, design margin, thermal hydraulics, safety analysis, I&C, manufacturing, testing, licensing, and operations.
• Develop engineering standards, technical methodologies, design principles, and best practices that improve engineering quality and organizational effectiveness.
• Influence corporate technology strategy through collaboration with executive leadership and engineering management teams.
• Identify emerging technical risks and opportunities affecting reactor technology development and commercialization.
• Communicate complex technical issues and provide direction on key design trades, technical decisions, requirements allocation, system interfaces, and design margins affecting reactor system performance and safety.
• Lead or support major design integration reviews to ensure structures, systems, and components are compatible, accessible for installation and maintenance, and aligned with safety, construction, and lifecycle requirements.
• Prepare and review reactor systems design documentation and supporting engineering analyses, including design descriptions, drawings, test plans, reports, specifications, calculations, design decision records, thermal/structural/system analyses, FMEAs, hazard analyses, and design margin assessments.
• Maintain knowledge of and assess compliance with applicable codes and standards such as ASME, ANSI, ASTM, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, and other relevant industry standards.
• Assist in cost, schedule, and risk assessments related to reactor system design, testing, fabrication, integration, and deployment activities.
• Mentor engineers across Reactor Systems and adjacent technical teams, including coaching on design rigor, engineering judgment, documentation quality, and cross-functional integration.
• Represent Reactor Systems in high-impact technical discussions, design reviews, readiness reviews, audits, and executive-level technical briefings.
• Promote a strong engineering culture focused on safety, technical excellence, accountability, clarity, and efficient execution.
• Other duties as assigned.

 Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or a related technical discipline is required.
• 20+ years of progressively increasing technical leadership experience in nuclear reactor design, reactor systems engineering, advanced technology development, complex mechanical systems, high-temperature systems, or similarly regulated engineering environments is required.
• Demonstrated experience leading major technical scope across complex engineering programs, preferably involving nuclear, energy, chemical, oil and gas, or power generation systems is required.
• Recognized technical authority with demonstrated contributions to the advancement of advanced reactor technology, complex engineered systems, or related engineering disciplines through technical leadership, publications, patents, standards development, invited presentations, or equivalent achievements preferred.
• Experience working within formal configuration management, design control, or product lifecycle management systems under a recognized quality program such as ASME NQA-1, ISO 9001, or equivalent is desired.
• Experience with applicable codes and standards such as ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII Division 1 and 2, Section III Division 5, ANSI, ASTM, ASME Y14.5, or related standards is desired.
• Experience participating in or leading formal technical reviews, readiness reviews, design reviews, or safety-related engineering reviews. 
• Experience communicating complex technical issues to executive, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, operations, or cross-functional stakeholders.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Recognized expert capable of defining technical vision and engineering strategy across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Strong understanding of advanced reactor technology, high-temperature systems, molten salt systems, reactor vessel systems, reactor internals, auxiliary systems, and safety-significant mechanical components.
• Knowledge of high-temperature design considerations, including thermal stress, creep-fatigue, irradiation effects, material compatibility, and component degradation mechanisms.
• Ability to establish long-term technical vision and guide engineering organizations toward successful execution of complex technology roadmaps.
• Ability to influence technical direction without organizational authority and align long-term technology strategy with business objectives.
• Ability to interpret and apply industry codes and standards, including ASME, ANSI, ASTM, and ASME BPVC.
• Ability to evaluate enterprise-level technical tradeoffs involving safety, manufacturing, operability, licensing, economics, and commercialization.
• Familiarity with 3D CAD design tools such as SolidWorks, AVEVA, or equivalent, and engineering analysis tools for thermal and structural modeling.
• Knowledge of FEA, CFD, thermal-fluid analysis, structural analysis, and system-level analysis methods, with the ability to apply analysis results to design decisions.
• Ability to evaluate design maturity, technical readiness, test adequacy, and verification strategy for first-of-a-kind reactor systems.
• Strong analytical problem-solving abilities to resolve complex design issues efficiently.
• Ability to make sound engineering recommendations with incomplete information while identifying risks, assumptions, and required follow-up actions.
• Excellent technical writing skills and ability to produce clear, concise, reviewable engineering documentation.
• Provide independent engineering judgement on the organization’s highest-risk technical decisions.
• Flexibility to consistently deliver tangible results in a rapid and dynamic work environment.
• Capable of mentoring Principal Engineers, Lead Engineer, Senior Engineers, and emerging technical leaders while strengthening organizational engineering capability and succession planning.
• Dedication to safety and risk management consistent with expectations for designing and deploying components critical to safe nuclear reactor operation.
• Ability to proactively collect, manage, and transfer knowledge.
• Ability to seek different and novel ways to create efficiencies when working on problems, challenges, and issues.

Physical Conditions

• Remaining in a stationary position, often standing or sitting, for prolonged periods.

Environmental Conditions

• General office environment.
• Manufacturing, assembly, test, supplier, or construction environments as needed.

Safety and PPE

• Reading and interpreting hazardous warning signs.
• Wearing proper PPE, including safety glasses, safety shoes, or other required protective equipment.

Travel

• If on-site, some travel may be required (10%), including travel to Kairos Power sites, suppliers, fabrication shops, test facilities, or installation sites.
• If remote, travel required (20%), including travel to Kairos Power sites, suppliers, fabrication shops, test facilities, or installation sites.

Additional Requirements

• Occasionally requires schedule flexibility.
• Occasionally requires extended hours to support critical project timelines, fabrication activities, testing, or deployment milestones.

The salary range for this position is $235,488 - $294,360 for employees working onsite at our Alameda, CA headquarters. The range provided in this job posting represents the typical range or starting rate of candidates hired in California. Factors that maybe used to determine your actual salary may include your education, experience, knowledge, skills, ability, and the market data for your work location, and a comparison to other employees already in the role. 

#LI-Onsite

About our Benefits

We know that we have some of the most talented and dedicated employees, and we believe in rewarding them accordingly. If you work here, full-time employees (excludes interns) expect to have access to the benefits below:

• Competitive compensation packages
• Medical, dental and vision benefits for employees and their dependents
• Paid Vacation
• 401(k) and pre-tax health insurance, dependent care, and commuter benefits (FSA)

Kairos Power is committed to building a diverse workforce that reflects the communities where we do business. Kairos Power is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We actively welcome people of different experiences, abilities, and perspectives.

Kairos Power participates in E-Verify.

Candidates only, no recruiters or agencies please.

Note: You are applying for a position that is located in a facility that handles information that is subject to export control restrictions by the Department of Energy under 10 CFR Part 810. To work in this facility, you need to be authorized by the Department of Energy to access Part 810-controlled information. Foreign nationals who are citizens of countries that are not on the Department of Energy’s general authorization list (link below) are not permitted to work in our facility unless the Department of Energy issues an export control license to the company to permit that individual to have access to Part 810-controlled information. The following questions are intended to determine the licensing requirements that may apply. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/10/appendix-A_to_part_810