Director, Value Engineering and Product Management

Job Description
The Director, Value Engineering and Product Management at X-energy will work cross functionally across Project Controls, Engineering, Procurement / Supply Chain, Construction, Operations and Project Finance/Commercial Development. This role will help to inform engineering design and technical decision-making in real-time by providing relevant cost and value data and implications, enabling the organization to make smart design choices based on trade-offs between cost and value / efficiency and between CAPEX and OPEX to optimize the whole-life value of Xe products and projects.

A major part of this role is to work with Engineering to identify and constructively challenge:
• Over-engineering
• Excessive conservatism
• Redundant scope
• Complex interfaces
• Low-value requirements

This role will be the 'voice of the customer' within our projects-enabling engineering teams to make design decisions with short and long-term cost and schedule implications fully in mind. They will build the connective tissue between disparate parts of the organization. They will sit alongside engineers, understand design challenges, and then turn around and deliver fast, usable cost estimates that help them make trade-off decisions. They will build both the framework and the habit: the tools that make rapid cost / value estimates possible, and the culture that incentivizes the engineering teams to use them.

This work will directly influence which design paths X-energy pursues and how it successfully delivers its first-of-a-kind and nth-of-a-kind megaprojects.

This role requires deep megaproject cost estimating experience, strong organizational savvy, ability to communicate effectively at all levels in the organization, and the confidence to build something from scratch. When people tell you something isn't possible, you find a way.
This position serves as the executive voice of the customer within projects by translating technical decisions into short- and long-term cost and schedule implications and ensuring those trade-offs are visible, understood, and acted upon at the point of decision. The role builds and institutionalizes the connective structure between disparate parts of the organization by establishing the strategy, tools, processes, governance, and working relationships that allow engineering teams to access fast, usable cost and value estimates in real time.

The Director, Value Engineering and Product Management also plays a key role in setting the enterprise approach to identifying and constructively challenging over-engineering, excessive conservatism, redundant scope, complex interfaces, and low-value requirements. This work directly influences design path decisions, portfolio outcomes, and the successful delivery of first-of-a-kind and nth-of-a-kind megaprojects.

Job Profile Tasks/Responsibilities:

• Connect finance, commercial development, and engineering organizations around a shared understanding of project costs, value drivers, and trade-off implications.
• This role leads the development and implementation of cost control systems, plans, and procedures across project portfolios, building and leading a rapid cost estimating framework that enables engineering to evaluate design trade-offs in real time-creating the framework, tools, processes, and culture needed to make it a reality.
• Monitor budgets, expenditures, and forecasts to ensure compliance with all project and corporate financial objectives; identify cost variances, potential risks, and savings opportunities, proposing corrective actions as required; prepare and maintain detailed cost reports, dashboards, and forecasts for project leadership and stakeholders; conduct variance analysis, cash flow tracking, and earned value performance reporting.
• Serve as the 'voice of the customer' within project teams, translating technical decisions into cost and schedule impacts, CAPEX vs OPEX considerations, and construction and maintenance impacts, and ensuring that cost / value implications are visible and understood at the point of decision.
• Embed oneself in the engineering organization- work across project management, engineering, procurement, and finance teams to build relationships, understand design challenges, and create trust so that teams reach for cost / value estimating as a tool as opposed to a burden.
• Champion a culture of cost-conscious engineering-build the muscle within Project Controls to produce fast, usable estimates and help teams understand that cost estimating is not a constraint but an enabler of smart, faster decision-making.

Job Profile Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, finance, or other. A wide range of educational backgrounds could fit, from engineering to business, and the priority will be the right combination of work experiences that prepares for this unique role. We need someone with quantitative / financial fluency and also deep comfort with highly technical issues, not at all intimidated to stand their ground in front of a room of engineers.
• 10-15+ years experience in cost estimating, project controls, or value engineering, with deep experience in megaprojects (ideally $500M+ capital projects in energy, infrastructure, construction, or industrial sectors).
• Strong knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, earned value management (EVM), and financial reporting. Proficiency in SAP, Oracle, or equivalent ERP systems and expert use of Microsoft Excel. Proven ability to interpret complex data, identify trends, and communicate financial implications. Strategic thinker with excellent leadership, collaboration, and communication capabilities.
• The successful candidate will be an entrepreneurial self-starter with ability to think about the next horizon of what is possible and eager to drive an organization to make it happen.

Location: 530 Gaither Road, Rockville MD
Travel Expectations: 10%
Work Site Expectations: 4 days a week in office
Hours: 8:00am ET to 5:00pm ET, Monday - Friday

Compensation

As required by Maryland and other applicable state law, X Energy, LLC (X-energy) lists the expected compensation range for a publicly advertised job opportunity based upon the job requirements (e.g. education/training, experience, skill sets, etc.). Individual candidates who meet the job requirements for the posted position will be offered a salary within this range based on their respective levels of education/training, experience, and other qualifications unique to them. Salary ranges may vary based on the specific office location and region referenced in the posting to take into consideration differences in cost of living and may not be reflective of all regions. Please note that compensation ranges listed for US job postings reflect base salary only and do not include benefits or other incentives.

Offers within the posted salary range are commensurate with the individual's qualifications for the position, along with a view on internal equity, market data, and room for growth. The salary range for this position is:
$220,000- $240,000. The compensation for this position is comprised of base salary plus an annual short term incentive which is variable, based on scope of responsibility and achievement of goals.

Position Job Classification
Full time - Exempt

Benefits

X Energy, LLC offers a robust benefits package that includes a 401K plan with an employer match, Medical/Dental /Vision Insurance, Life and Disability Insurance, Paid Time Off, and a Tuition Reimbursement/Professional Development policy that supports the continuing education of our employees.