Director, Nuclear Engineering

About the role

Client is seeking a Director of Nuclear Engineering to set the technical direction, operating model, and talent strategy for nuclear design and analysis across the program. This leader will guide a multidisciplinary team spanning reactor physics, shielding, dose and consequence analysis, and nuclear instrumentation while ensuring that engineering rigor and development speed reinforce one another. This is a builder role for a leader who can move comfortably between first-principles analysis, hands-on technical reviews, team development, program risk, and executive-level decisions.

Responsibilities

• Team leadership. Recruit, develop, and lead nuclear engineers across core physics, shielding, radiological consequence analysis, nuclear instrumentation, and adjacent technical disciplines.
• Technical strategy. Establish the nuclear design and analysis roadmap across reactor development, demonstration, operations, and future product iterations.
• Execution. Convert program goals into clear priorities, accountable workstreams, and reliable technical deliverables; remove blockers and reset plans as conditions change.
• Design assurance. Define fit-for-purpose design margins, independent checking, peer review, configuration control, and decision documentation for safety-significant work.
• Methods and tools. Standardize analysis methods, models, validation approaches, and reusable workflows that support faster iteration across multiple reactor programs.
• Risk leadership. Identify and clearly communicate technical, schedule, safety, and regulatory risks, along with practical mitigation and decision paths.
• Cross-functional integration. Partner with mechanical, thermal, electrical, controls, systems, testing, operations, safety, regulatory, manufacturing, and program teams to resolve interfaces early.
• External relationships. Represent Client's technical interests with national laboratories, universities, government partners, specialist vendors, and other external collaborators.
• Culture. Build a team known for ownership, intellectual honesty, high standards, constructive challenge, mentorship, and urgency.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in nuclear engineering, physics, engineering physics, or a closely related technical field from an accredited institution.
• At least 10 years of progressive experience leading reactor design and analysis teams, including direct people-management responsibility.
• Deep command of reactor physics and a working first-principles understanding of thermal, mechanical, electrical, and controls interfaces.
• Demonstrated experience developing or supporting nuclear facility safety bases and navigating DOE authorization and/or NRC requirements and processes.
• Experience using or directing work performed with Monte Carlo neutron-transport tools such as OpenMC, Serpent, or MCNP.
• Strong record of technical judgment, design review, risk management, and decision-making in complex, safety-critical programs.
• Ability to explain complex nuclear concepts clearly to engineers, executives, regulators, operators, and external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in nuclear engineering, physics, or a related discipline.
• Experience with advanced reactors, gas-cooled reactors, microreactors, TRISO fuel, shielding, criticality, radiation transport, or consequence analysis.
• Hands-on involvement in the design, build, commissioning, or testing of complex hardware or nuclear systems.
• Experience scaling a high-performing engineering organization in a fast-moving development environment.
• Familiarity with analysis software quality assurance, verification and validation, uncertainty quantification, and configuration management.
• Established relationships with national laboratories, universities, regulators, or other advanced nuclear stakeholders.