Sr. Nuclear Engineer

Humanity faces two critical challenges: securing reliable energy and aggressively lowering our environmental impact. At Forge, we believe nuclear fission is the key to solving both at once. Today Forge is developing the technology to rapidly scale the deployment of nuclear fission.

The Nuclear Engineer role is responsible for end-to-end ownership of the nuclear design and safety analysis of our first reactor – Ember – spanning core design and fuel cycle, reactivity control, and radiation release and dose analysis. Nuclear Engineers will advance the design from today's working simulation models through design finalization, licensing, and first criticality, and will build the analysis tools and methods needed to do it at unprecedented speed. Sr. Nuclear Engineers will own the highest-impact analyses and design decisions while setting the technical bar for the nuclear engineering team. Successful candidates will have previously demonstrated extreme ownership in modeling, analyzing, or de-risking complex physical systems, and will be highly motivated to power humanity with abundant, clean energy.

Responsibilities

Support key aspects of nuclear core design including fuel assembly design, reactivity control through burnable poisons, chemical, and mechanical shim, thermal hydraulics, and fuel cycle design

Own reactivity control design and analysis: control rod worth, shutdown margin, reactivity coefficients, chemical and mechanical shim, and transient response

Perform radiation shielding and release analysis against regulatory limits

Work closely with fluids, structures, components and manufacturing teams to deliver a highly system-optimized and manufacturable design

Maintain tight partnerships with fuel procurement supply chain including enrichment service providers and fuel assembly fabricators to ensure high manufacturability of our design

Own a significant portion of the nuclear system through initial criticality, extended full power operations, and fleet wide commercial deployment

Provide training and mentorship to junior nuclear engineers, setting the standard for technical rigor across the team

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering, physics, or a related technical discipline

5+ years of engineering experience designing, analyzing, and building complex hardware

Preferred Skills and Experience

Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for problem solving, and desire to enable abundant clean energy

5+ years of experience designing and analyzing nuclear systems via professional work experience, project/research-based student experience, or a combination of both

Experience acting as a technical lead — scoping work, reviewing designs and analyses, and guiding other engineers to successful outcomes

Ability to perform trade studies and make clear recommendations using first principles and engineering fundamentals even with partial information

Experience working at a nimble engineering organization or in a highly technical position that required a scrappy, entrepreneurial manner to accomplish tasks with tight time or budget constraints

Experience with nuclear system design and analysis, including core geometry, reactivity simulations, depletion analysis, and radiation shielding

Experience with thermal hydraulics, heat transfer, and fluid flow regimes

Experience designing to key regulatory standards such as 10 CFR Part 50/52/53

Experience with radiation release analysis, including source term determination and dispersion analysis

Additional Requirements

Position will be based in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County and will require relocation if not already local. The position will be full-time in the office.

Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary

Ability to travel to reactor construction sites in other states as necessary

Compensation and Benefits

Pay range:

Senior: $170,000.00 - $220,000.00/per year + equity

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at Forge. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or stock options, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, paid vacation, paid parental leave, and various other perks. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.

Forge is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Forge is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

This position involves access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant's capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.

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