Distinguished Engineer, Reactor Systems

Company Overview

Kairos Power is a new nuclear energy technology and engineering company whose mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy, with the ultimate goal to dramatically improve people’s quality of life while protecting the environment. This goal will be accomplished through the commercialization of the fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (FHR) that can be deployed with robust safety, affordable costs, and flexible operation to accommodate the expansion of variable renewables.

Job Summary

The Reactor Systems department is seeking a highly accomplished Distinguished Engineer to provide senior technical leadership across reactor system design, integration, analysis, testing, qualification, and deployment for Kairos Power’s fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology. This role will establish the long-term technical vision, engineering strategy, and architectural direction for reactor systems to ensure that reactor system designs meet safety, performance, quality, manufacturability, maintainability, and deployment objectives.

The Distinguished Engineer provides independent technical leadership across multiple engineering organizations, shaping reactor system architecture, design philosophy, engineering standards and technical strategy for Kairos Power’s advanced reactor program. This individual serves as a trusted technical advisor to executive leadership, resolves the organization’s most complex technical challenges, and influences technical decisions supporting commercialization of Kairos Power’s reactor technology.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical authority to shape the long-term technical vision, system architecture, and engineering strategy for Reactor Systems consistent with Kairos Power’s commercialization roadmap.
• Serve as the highest-level technical authority for reactor systems design philosophy, integration strategy, and technical decision-making.
• Drive enterprise-wide technical consistency across reactor systems design, integration, analysis, testing, qualification, and deployment activities.
• Guide development and oversight of reactor system architecture, system requirements, design bases, interface definitions, verification plans, and supporting technical documentation.
• Lead resolution of complex cross-disciplinary technical issues involving reactor vessel systems, reactor internals, auxiliary systems, nuclear design, design margin, thermal hydraulics, safety analysis, I&C, manufacturing, testing, licensing, and operations.
• Develop engineering standards, technical methodologies, design principles, and best practices that improve engineering quality and organizational effectiveness.
• Influence corporate technology strategy through collaboration with executive leadership and engineering management teams.
• Identify emerging technical risks and opportunities affecting reactor technology development and commercialization.
• Communicate complex technical issues and provide direction on key design trades, technical decisions, requirements allocation, system interfaces, and design margins affecting reactor system performance and safety.
• Lead or support major design integration reviews to ensure structures, systems, and components are compatible, accessible for installation and maintenance, and aligned with safety, construction, and lifecycle requirements.
• Prepare and review reactor systems design documentation and supporting engineering analyses, including design descriptions, drawings, test plans, reports, specifications, calculations, design decision records, thermal/structural/system analyses, FMEAs, hazard analyses, and design margin assessments.
• Maintain knowledge of and assess compliance with applicable codes and standards such as ASME, ANS…