Nuclear Operations Lead/Manager

Antares
Idaho Falls
On-site

Who this role is best for

Geared toward senior professionals with nuclear or aerospace experience, comfortable with translating complex designs into operational systems. Requires leadership in highly regulated environments and collaboration across technical and external stakeholders in Idaho Falls.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with cross-disciplinary project leadership in regulated technical fields
    — “comfortable operating across boundaries both technical, organizational, as well as coordinating with external stakeholders
  • Individuals who have transitioned from reactor operations to strategic program management
    — “responsible for identification of required staffing and development of procedures, personnel and programs
  • Professionals with military or national laboratory experience in nuclear systems
    — “team hails from... U.S. Navy nuclear program, national laboratories, or commercial nuclear industry

Things to consider

  • ITAR compliance may restrict non-US citizen applicants
    — “To conform to U.S. Government export regulations
  • Travel expectations are high for stakeholder engagement
    — “Never miss a chance to meet a customer... even if that means hopping on a plane

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience aligning technical requirements with operational execution
    — “connect technical, regulatory, and operational requirements into executable plans
  • Demonstrate track record of reactor deployment or commissioning projects
    — “Experience supporting reactor operations, startup, commissioning, or deployment
  • Showcase ability to lead training programs for technical personnel
    — “Responsible for nuclear training programs for operators and maintenance personnel
  • Emphasize problem-solving in ambiguous technical environments
    — “drive clarity and execution in complex, ambiguous environments
  • Frame achievements around system-level thinking and trade-off analysis
    — “Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems...
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Manager

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • successful deployment of reactors
  • high standards for performance
Typical background
nuclear engineeringaerospacedefense

Skills & requirements

Required

Nuclear OperationsReactor OperationsSafety BasisPlant ProgramsOperational ExcellenceTechnical Communication

Preferred

Reactor StartupCommissioningDeployment

Stack & domain

NuclearAerospaceDefense

About the role

Original posting from Antares via Ashby

About Us

At Antares, our long-term mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. We’re fueled by the belief that advanced nuclear energy can strengthen our military, solve the climate crisis, elevate global living standards, and expand humanity's presence in outer space. To achieve our mission, we’re building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors that can be used terrestrially, underwater, and in space.

The Antares team hails from SpaceX, the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, MIT, Rigetti Computing, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, and National Laboratories like Idaho, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Savannah River. Antares has raised over $600M in venture capital from top-tier investors and has hundreds of million-dollars on contract with the military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy.

About The Role

We are seeking a Nuclear Operations Lead to ensure Antares’ nuclear programs and systems are translated into executable, deployable approaches. This role sits at tip of nuclear operations, and is responsible for ensuring that reactors can be successfully deployed, started, and operated as complete systems in a manner tightly coupled to the design basis, safety basis and plant programs. This role will serve as the leader of the Nuclear Operations organization with responsibility for identifying and developing reactor operating personnel as well as the development and deployment of the operational programs necessary for ensuring that operational requirements are aligned and achievable in real-world environments.

This position is ideal for someone who is comfortable operating across boundaries both technical, organizational, as well as coordinating with external stakeholders, and who can drive clarity and execution in complex, ambiguous environments with a high degree or precision and rigor.

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Oversee the safe and efficient operation of reactor experiments and plant facilities in order to maximize plant availability and customer expectations.
  • Responsible for nuclear training programs for operators and maintenance personnel.
  • Responsible for identification of required staffing and development of procedures, personnel and programs necessary for successful operation.
  • Set and maintain high standards for performance and operational excellence.
  • Ensure the effective operation of nuclear activities for Antares test and deployed reactors.
  • Participate in and drive technical discussions, reviews, and working groups with internal and external stakeholders
  • Provide feedback to engineering and program teams to improve the scalability and repeatability of reactor deployments

Basic Qualifications

  • 4+ years of experience in nuclear, aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated technical environments
  • Experience working across multiple disciplines to deliver complex systems or projects
  • Demonstrated ability to connect technical, regulatory, and operational requirements into executable plans
  • Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
  • Demonstrated technical communication skills, with the ability to engage both internal teams and external stakeholders

Preferred Skills & Experience:

  • BS, MS, or PHD engineering (nuclear, mechanical, chemical, aerospace, or related field)
  • Experience supporting reactor operations, startup, commissioning, or deployment
  • Familiarity with nuclear safety and compliance programs
  • Experience working with customers, regulators, or external partners in technical settings
  • Prior experience in the U.S. Navy nuclear program, national laboratories, or commercial nuclear industry

Culture

At Antares, we like to specifically tie each role to our founding document’s set of values–here are the top five cultural values we think you should believe at your core to be successful:

  • Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems with numerous stakeholders with competing priorities, conflicting policies, perverse incentives, and emergent and path-dependent properties. First principles thinking alone is insufficient. Think probabilistically and then take action. “If you want to be certain, then you are apt to be obsolete.” Over-optimizing the components often degrades the system
  • Obsess over the End User - The customer and end user are often not the same. We will never build globally competitive commercial products if we lose sight of our end users and their entire interaction with the product life cycle
  • Be Unconstrained by Convention - Our only limits are the laws of physics. Many, even experts, will say what we are working on is impossible. They said the same about SpaceX reusing rockets. Generationally impactful companies, by definition, must accomplish the seemingly impossible. If it were easy, it would have already been done. Never shy away from a solution because it has never been tried before, and never choose to do something because that's “how it's always been done”
  • Go Where the Work Is - Never miss a chance to meet a customer, user, or stakeholder face to face, even if that means hopping on a plane. If you can’t make it, find a teammate who can channel your intentions and go in your place. Deep work can be done from anywhere, but we believe teams are built in person, and aim to maximize our time together
  • Operate in the Grey - Embrace nuance in pursuit of truth. Question every fundamental assumption

Equal Opportunity

Antares is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to 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.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987.

Source: Antares careers (Ashby)

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