Materials Science Manager, Nuclear Ceramic Materials

About Helion

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised over $1 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors SoftBank and Lightspeed to propel us forward. Our last prototype, Trenta, completed 10,000 high-power pulses and reached plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV). We are now operating Polaris, our next prototype on the path to the world's first fusion power plant.

This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.

What You Will Be Doing:

You will lead the Nuclear Ceramic Materials Science team, bringing together expertise in new materials design, analytical engineering, prototyping, and scale-up. In this role, you will guide the development of advanced inorganic materials for extreme environments, aligning cross-disciplinary efforts to deliver reliable, high-performance solutions that support Helion’s mission. You will report to the Director of the Materials Science team in this onsite role located at our Everett, WA office.

• Lead, develop, and support subject matter experts driving the development and scale-up of advanced inorganic materials engineered for extreme environments, including elevated temperature and radiation exposure

• Own and manage the delivery of Helion’s inorganic materials needs such as plasma containment vessels, insulators, and resistors

• Translate annual goals into objective tasks and manage month-to-month planning towards completing goals and objectives.

• Drive schedule ownership to accelerate the completion of milestones

• Build and manage a network of collaborative relationships, both internally and externally, to develop new materials that can survive a fusion environment

Minimum Required Skills:

• Experience developing new inorganic and hybrid materials from ideation to launch

• Experience or deep knowledge of high purity monocrystalline and polycrystalline ceramics processes including sintering, CVD, slip casting, sol-gel, hydrothermal, and injection molding. Experience with SiC is preferred

• Hands-on experience in analytical equipment to characterize ceramics properties including structural, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties (e.g., XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA/DSC, ICP-MS)

• Ability to organize the team to execute with urgency, and favor learning through rapid prototyping

• Experience (i) managing a materials science team that delivered a high-impact final product, (ii) expanding a talent-dense team via a hiring process, and (iii) owning the schedule for a critical path facet of a milestone project

• Successful and autonomous mentorship of employees of a wide range of expertise, experience, and backgrounds, demonstrated (e.g., via several performance review cycles and successful coaching of direct reports)

• Fluent in some people management systems (e.g., recruiting, timecard management, spend approval, and performance reviews) and applying company policies as described in an employee handbook

#LI-TM1 #LI-Onsite  

Benefits

Our 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

Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.