Scientist - Plasma Fueling & Wall Conditioning

About The Role

The Plasma Fueling & Wall Conditioning Scientist contributes to the Particle Control Group within TAE's Experimental Section. The group is responsible for developing and maintaining plasma fueling systems, implementing particle recycling control techniques (such as gettering and glow discharge cleaning), and designing and analyzing experiments related to particle transport. The group includes staff scientists with expertise in fueling, wall conditioning, and experimental design. In this role, the Scientist contributes individual scientific research and technical work within the group, working under the technical direction of the Lead Scientist. This is an individual-contributor position with room to grow technical depth and leadership within the group over time.

Responsibilities

• Support the development, operation, and continuous improvement of plasma fueling systems (e.g., cold gas injection, pellet injection), including fueling system topology and best practices.
• Support and maintain wall conditioning systems for particle recycling control, including titanium gettering and glow discharge cleaning systems.
• Design and execute experiments focused on particle transport, wall conditions, and plasma–material interactions.
• Provide regular analysis and reporting of system data (e.g., vacuum conditions, fueling efficiency, wall conditioning effectiveness); contribute to scientific publications.
• Collaborate closely with other members of the Particle Control Group and across technical groups in a matrixed project environment.
• Contribute to the planning and design of future fusion devices, such as Da Vinci, with a focus on fueling and plasma–wall interface strategies.
• Maintain responsibility for test stands within the group's scope, ensuring alignment with experimental objectives.
• Occasionally represent TAE in external settings such as conferences, collaborations, or recruiting events.
• Promote and embody TAE's Core Values, Rules of the Road, and Culture of Safety.

About You

We welcome applications from recent Ph.D. graduates as well as candidates with postdoctoral or industry research experience. We prioritize candidates who bring depth of expertise, at a lead-researcher level, in at least one or two of these areas, along with working familiarity across the rest:

• Plasma scientific research, including laboratory experiments, diagnostics, and data analysis
• Plasma fueling systems such as puff valves, pellet injectors, or neutral beams
• Wall conditioning techniques such as glow discharge cleaning, evaporable gettering, or machine baking
• Plasma–wall interactions
• Particle transport experiments, modeling, or analysis

Qualifications

• Education Required: Ph.D. in Physics or a closely related field (new graduates welcome to apply)
• Preferred: Postdoctoral research experience in plasma physics or a closely related field

Skills

• Technical Experience: Understanding of the application of tools, test equipment, and process control such as high voltage power supplies, voltmeters, oscilloscopes, ionization gauges; utilization of pneumatics and high speed gas valves
• Preferred Technical Experience: Experience with cryogenics
• Software: MS Office Suite; experience with project collaboration platforms and document management systems preferred; experience with scientific analysis languages (Python, Matlab, IDL, etc.) preferred
• Experience contributing to or helping coordinate large-scale scientific projects and/or collaborations

Pay

$115,000 – $140,000 (indicative range for an individual-contributor Scientist level — adjust to your internal bands)

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k) with company match, paid vacation + sick time, companywide December holiday, wellness program, parental leave
• Payment rewards for referring talent, novel research, and patents
• A collaborative environment where talents and interests can plug in to different groups throughout the organization
• Potential for equity participation
• HQ in Southern California
• Employee events on and off-site
• A commitment to upholding and growing an inclusive organization