Why This Role MattersA Fusion power plant only produces useful results if something can control it, observe it, and make sense of what it did. The means firmware on the controllers that fire the pulses, supervisory automation that coordinates the machine as a system, the network and infrastructure backbone, and data pipelines that capture events spanning nanoseconds to years. The machine and facility are first of their kind, which means the software is too.
You will lead and scale the team that builds it. This means more than just hiring the right people. It means establishing software engineering as a core functional discipline by creating processes that enable the team to do their best work and building the structure around how software and hardware teams interact at Helion.
What You Will Be Doing- Lead and grow the Plant Control Software team, a multidisciplinary team across firmware, application software, networking, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
- Own delivery of the plant control software stack across its embedded, supervisory, networking, and data layers.
- Partner closely with electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, fuel cycle, systems engineering, operations, and science. Our software ships against hardware on a shared schedule and the coordination across those boundaries is a core responsibility.
- Establish the engineering principles that will be the foundation for this team as it grows including how it plans, reviews, tests, deploys, responds to faults, and hands off to operations.
Required Skills- 10+ years of experience building complex control systems for hardware 3+ years of experience in a leadership role building and managing a multidisciplinary software team (software engineers, firmware/embedded engineers, with a diversity of level from early career to senior).
- Depth in real-time, embedded, or control software for physical systems, sufficient to hold technical direction with a senior team.
- A track record of delivering software against hardware on a shared schedule in an environment where the hardware is the product.
- Experience hiring, and growing engineers over time.
- The ability to work fluently across disciplinary boundaries with electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, systems engineers, operators, and scientists.
- A degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
#LI-Onsite #LI-RR1
BenefitsOur 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
