2+ years of people-management experience leading technical teams
5+ years in maintenance, engineering, or operations in a complex facility
Ability to translate operational priorities into actionable work plans
Hands-on experience with hardware installation and maintenance
Knowledge of safety protocols and work authorization processes
Experience with preventive maintenance and reliability programs
Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field
Responsibilities
Lead and develop maintenance engineers and technician managers
Own the machine maintenance and work-control program from planning to execution
Partner with Operations to prioritize and manage maintenance schedules
Champion a strong safety culture and enforce safety protocols
Build a data-driven preventive maintenance and reliability program
Oversee machine upgrades and ensure integration readiness
Benefits
Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
Annual wellness stipend
Full Job Description
What You'll Do:
We are looking for a Manager, Machine Maintenance and Integration to lead the teams that maintain, repair, and upgrade Helion's experimental and large-scale fusion machines. You will lead our machine maintenance engineers and the managers of our AM and PM technician shifts. Together, your team will keep machines ready for operation while supporting rapid changes in a demanding experimental environment.
In this position, you will own the work control, maintenance, and reliability programs that allow multiple teams to work safely and effectively on our machines. You will balance urgent repairs, preventive maintenance, integration work, and upgrades, while developing processes that scale across our machines. This is an onsite role located at our Everett, WA office that reports into our Senior Manager of R&D.
You Will:
Lead, coach, and develop maintenance engineers and technician shift managers, building effective coverage, shift handoffs, onboarding, and qualification programs
Own the machine maintenance and work-control program from intake and planning through execution, verification, testing, closeout, and return to service
Partner with Operations to prioritize repairs, preventive maintenance, upgrades, and integration work; develop executable work packages and manage maintenance schedules, resources, spares, vendors, and contractor support
Champion a strong safety culture by reinforcing stop-work authority and ensuring effective pre-job briefs, energy controls, work permits, configuration management, and management of change
Build a data-driven preventive maintenance and reliability program using equipment history, failure analysis, and performance metrics to reduce recurring issues and improve machine availability
Oversee machine upgrades and integration readiness from scope and resource planning through installation, commissioning, and operational turnover, while ensuring new hardware is safe, testable, maintainable, and scalable across multiple experimental machines
Required Skills:
2+ years of people-management experience, including leading technicians, engineers, supervisors, or technical leads while building effective coordination across shifts
5+ years in maintenance, engineering, or operations within a complex, fast-paced, or high-growth operating facility
Demonstrated ability to translate changing operational priorities and requests from multiple teams into realistic work plans, including equipment modifications and upgrades
Hands-on understanding of hardware installation, testing, maintenance, repair, and commissioning, with the ability to read technical drawings and evaluate technical work plans
Working knowledge of work authorization, lockout/tagout, work permits, configuration management, management of change, and return-to-service requirements for equipment with significant stored energy
Experience managing preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, and structured failure investigations using a computerized maintenance management system, with the ability to surface risks and communicate technical tradeoffs clearly
Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field
Benefits
Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:
Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
Annual wellness stipend
About Helion Energy
Helion Energy, Inc. is an American fusion research company, located in Everett, Washington. They are developing a magneto-inertial fusion technology to produce helium-3 and fusion power via aneutronic fusion.
