Principal Thermal Hydraulic Fluids Engineer

LEAD / PRINCIPAL THERMAL-HYDRAULICS ENGINEERDeployable EnergyPosition SummarySenior, 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