Chief People Officer

Role Description

The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a member of the executive leadership team and leads Deep Fission's people strategy during a period of rapid growth, increasing regulatory complexity, and organizational transition from R&D to operational readiness. Reporting directly to the CEO, the CPO partners closely with the executive team, Board of Directors, and Legal and Finance leadership to build the workforce, governance, and systems the company needs to scale safely and effectively. This role is both strategic and hands-on — and the emphasis on hands-on is real. Deep Fission is building its people infrastructure in real time, and the CPO will be as much architect as operator.

The CPO will play a critical role in technical hiring, site-based operations, employment law compliance, and reinforcing a strong safety culture aligned with nuclear industry expectations. The right candidate is someone who is energized by building in ambiguity — who sees an evolving org chart and an incomplete HR stack not as obstacles, but as the job.

Key Responsibilities

• Executive Leadership, Governance & Workforce Strategy
  • Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team on workforce planning, organizational design, executive compensation, and people-related risk.
  • Partner with the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee on executive compensation programs, incentive design, succession planning, and governance — building these processes where they don't yet exist in mature form.
  • Align hiring plans, organizational structure, and people investments with operational milestones, regulatory timelines, and capital plans — in an environment where those plans are actively evolving.
  • Lead the people-side change management required as the company transitions from early-stage R&D to site-based operations and commercial readiness.
  • Build and own human capital governance processes appropriate to a company growing into increasing public and regulatory visibility.
• Talent Strategy & Executive Hiring
  • Build and lead recruiting strategy for highly specialized technical roles, including nuclear engineers, reactor and operations staff, and regulatory professionals.
  • Design competitive compensation, equity, and total rewards programs suited to a high-growth company competing against both established nuclear players and well-funded startups.
  • Partner with executive leadership on senior and executive-level hiring, onboarding, and leadership integration.
• Safety, Culture & Manager Effectiveness
  • Champion a safety-first organizational culture consistent with nuclear industry standards as the company prepares for site-based operations including building the training, documentation, and accountability structures that don't yet fully exist.
  • Partner with Operations, Legal, and site leadership to develop safety training, incident response protocols, and documentation processes.
  • Build manager capability and accountability through clear expectations, training, and support with particular attention to safety-sensitive and frontline roles where management infrastructure is still being established.
  • Support leadership development and succession planning for critical technical and operational roles.
• HR Operations, Compliance & Risk Management
  • Own employment law compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions, with particular fluency in California employment law.
  • Build and oversee HR operations infrastructure such as HRIS, benefits, payroll coordination, policies, employee relations, and documentation with a focus on scaling systems to meet the company's growth rather than inheriting a finished stack.
  • Serve as a key leader in people-related crisis and incident response in coordination with Legal and executive leadership.
  • Partner closely with internal and external legal counsel on employment matters, investigations, and regulatory considerations.
• Team Building & Function Scaling
  • Build a lean, high-impact People team from an early-stage foundation, including HR operations, compliance, and recruiting support.
  • Establish decision rights, escalation paths, and operating rhythms within the People function — creating structure where structure is needed and staying nimble where it isn't.
  • Anticipate when and how to scale the team as additional sites come online and organizational complexity increases.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive HR experience, including senior leadership at the VP or CPO level.
• Demonstrated experience building HR functions in high-growth, startup, or rapidly scaling organizations including environments where processes and infrastructure were created, not inherited.
• Track record of operating effectively in ambiguity, comfortable making decisions and building structure when playbooks don't yet exist.
• Experience engaging with Boards of Directors and Compensation Committees, whether in a public, pre-IPO, or investor-backed context.
• Deep knowledge of employment law and HR compliance, including strong fluency in California employment law.
• Experience supporting distributed and multi-state workforces.
• Proven ability to partner with and influence CEOs, executive teams, and senior investors.
• Strong judgment, executive presence, and clear, direct communication style.
• Bachelor's degree required.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience in nuclear energy, clean energy, aerospace, defense, infrastructure, or other safety-critical, highly regulated industries.
• Experience supporting site-based or field operations alongside corporate teams.
• Exposure to labor strategy, mixed workforce models (hourly, salaried, contractors), or union-adjacent environments.
• Experience managing people-side risk during significant organizational transitions — regulatory scale-up, operational launch, or similar inflection points.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.
• Experience supporting international or cross-border teams or vendors.

Our Commitment

Deep Fission is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds who share our passion for advancing clean nuclear energy and creating a sustainable future. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.