LEAD / PRINCIPAL THERMAL-HYDRAULICS ENGINEER

Deployable Energy

Position Summary

Senior, hands-on technical leader responsible for establishing and developing the thermal-hydraulics and thermal-fluids engineering capability within a growing nuclear energy organization. Provides technical leadership while remaining directly involved in engineering execution, analysis, technical problem-solving, and project delivery. This role will help establish discipline-specific standards, processes, tools, and technical practices; support multiple concurrent projects; and mentor developing engineers as the organization scales.

Functional Scope

• Thermal-Hydraulics - Lead analysis of fluid flow, pressure drop, heat removal, coolant behavior, and system response for reactor, power-conversion, heat-transport, and supporting systems.

• Thermal-Fluids Engineering - Develop engineering approaches integrating heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and component performance into practical design and operating decisions.

• Fluid Dynamics - Evaluate internal and external flow behavior including compressible-flow effects, flow distribution, mixing, recirculation, instability, and related impacts on system performance.

• Heat Transfer - Assess conduction, convection, radiation, heat-exchanger performance, thermal margins, component temperatures, and heat-rejection pathways across normal, transient, and off-normal conditions.

• Thermodynamics - Apply first-principles and systems-level thermodynamic analysis to Brayton-cycle, helium, supercritical CO2, and related power-conversion applications.

• Systems Analysis - Model and evaluate integrated system behavior, interfaces, operating envelopes, performance limits, and interactions between reactor, heat transport, power conversion, and supporting systems.

• Engineering Modeling & Simulation - Build, maintain, and review analytical, system-level, CFD, and multiphysics models used to support design decisions, technical trade studies, and licensing-quality documentation.

• Performance Analysis - Quantify component and system performance against design requirements, operating targets, safety margins, efficiency goals, and project-level technical objectives.

• Steady-State and Transient Analysis - Perform analyses across normal operation, startup, shutdown, load changes, upset conditions, and design-basis scenarios to understand system response and technical risk.

• Verification & Validation - Establish and apply methods for model checking, benchmarking, sensitivity studies, test-data correlation, uncertainty evaluation, and documentation of analysis credibility.

• Regulatory and Licensing Support - Prepare analysis inputs, assumptions, technical bases, methods, results summaries, and supporting documentation suitable for review within highly regulated nuclear programs.

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the senior technical resource and subject matter expert within the assigned discipline.

• Lead and personally execute complex technical work across multiple nuclear projects and programs.

• Establish and maintain discipline-specific engineering standards, methodologies, procedures, and best practices.

• Lead and participate in technical reviews, design reviews, and technical decision-making.

• Identify and resolve complex multidisciplinary engineering issues while maintaining appropriate technical rigor.

Engineering / Technical Execution

• Develop, perform, and review thermal-fluid and thermal-hydraulic analyses supporting nuclear engineering programs.

• Develop and maintain analytical, system-level, or computational models as appropriate to project needs.

• Evaluate fluid flow, heat transfer, thermodynamic, steady-state, transient, and system-performance behavior.

• Perform or oversee system-level, transient, sensitivity, benchmark, and correlation analyses against test or available operational data where applicable.

• Support model verification, validation, benchmarking, uncertainty evaluation, and technical-review activities.

• Apply relevant computational tools and methods, including CFD and systems-analysis tools, where appropriate to project needs.

• Evaluate thermal-fluid behavior in helium-cooled and supercritical CO2 systems, including heat exchangers, turbomachinery interfaces, power-conversion systems, and related balance-of-system equipment.

• Support design evaluation, technical optimization, testing, technical decision-making, and multidisciplinary engineering integration.

Team & Capability Development

• Help establish and grow the discipline capability within the organization.

• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior and early-career personnel.

• Support technical assessment of future team members.

• Develop repeatable technical practices and workflows that support continued organizational growth.

• Promote knowledge transfer, accountability, and continuous technical development.

Technical Governance

• Ensure technical activities align with applicable nuclear-industry codes, standards, regulations, quality requirements, and company procedures.

• Support engineering quality, configuration management, document control, and change-control practices.

• Ensure technical work is appropriately developed, reviewed, documented, and controlled.

• Incorporate technical risk management into engineering decision-making.

• Support corrective actions and continuous-improvement initiatives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with engineering leadership, project leaders, systems engineering, and adjacent technical disciplines.

• Collaborate with quality, safety, licensing/regulatory, testing, manufacturing, supply chain, and project-delivery functions.

• Support multidisciplinary technical integration across concurrent projects.

• Interface with suppliers, manufacturers, laboratories, engineering partners, and other external stakeholders as required.

Safety & Quality

• Champion a strong nuclear safety culture and disciplined engineering execution.

• Promote quality-focused technical work and risk-informed decision-making.

• Maintain technical rigor while operating effectively in a fast-moving, evolving organization.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Nuclear, Chemical, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.

• Approximately 10+ years of relevant technical experience, unless discipline-specific requirements indicate otherwise.

• Demonstrated hands-on technical experience within thermal-hydraulics, thermal-fluids, systems analysis, or related engineering disciplines.

• Experience leading complex technical work, projects, workstreams, or engineering teams.

• Experience within nuclear or another highly regulated, safety-critical engineering environment.

• Experience supporting regulatory, licensing, safety analysis, or technical documentation activities within a nuclear or similarly regulated environment.

• Strong technical problem-solving, engineering judgment, and decision-making capability.

• Ability to operate successfully within a growing organization where processes and capabilities are still being developed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced engineering degree.

• Experience with thermal-hydraulic systems analysis, CFD, or complex systems modeling.

• Experience with helium-cooled systems, supercritical CO2 power cycles, Brayton-cycle systems, or related advanced-reactor thermal-fluid applications.

• Experience with verification, validation, benchmarking, or test-data correlation.

• Familiarity with regulatory-review processes, licensing methods, nuclear-quality requirements, or preparation of safety-related technical bases.

• Professional Engineering registration, Chartered Engineer status, or equivalent credential where applicable.

• Direct nuclear-industry experience.

• Experience establishing or improving technical processes, standards, and organizational capability.

• Experience mentoring or developing junior technical personnel.

• Experience supporting multidisciplinary or matrixed engineering organizations.

Core Competencies

• Thermal-Hydraulics

• Thermal-Fluids Engineering

• Fluid Dynamics

• Heat Transfer

• Thermodynamics

• Systems Performance Analysis

• Computational Modeling

• Verification & Validation

• Regulatory / Licensing Support

• Helium and Supercritical CO2 Thermal-Fluid Systems

• Technical Leadership

• Nuclear Safety Culture

• Engineering Judgment