Fuel Handling Project Engineer

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for a Fuel Handling Project Engineer to join our team. 

Position Description

As a Fuel Handling Project Engineer on Oklo’s Refueling Team, you’ll own the design and fabrication oversight of our advanced reactor fuel handling system. Your focus will be on building strong supplier partnerships and ensuring vendors deliver high-quality hardware that meets technical, cost, and schedule requirements. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, and operations, playing a key role in bringing the Aurora plant from design to reality.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Partner with Team Lead, Engineers, and Procurement to develop technical specifications, statements of work and drawing packages detailing the requirements for Refueling Equipment to establish external packages for suppliers and vendors.
• Function in a rapidly growing team to support vendor deliverables that align with overall project budget and schedule.
• Manage vendor design development to meet plant requirements while in compliance with codes, standards and regulations per the contract.
• Perform technical review of design documents and drawings including Process & Instrumentation Diagrams, Technical Specifications, analysis, and calculations.
• Work with vendors during manufacturing to execute deviation requests and report non-conformance reports to a high-level of detail with impacts assessed and potential resolutions identified.
• Support document preparation (installation procedures, system description documents, design reviews).
• Prepare and give presentations and status updates of technical scope and progress.
• Foreign and domestic travel to fabricators and support subcontractor’s facilities is required (<50%)

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Civil Engineering, or a related engineering discipline. 
• 3-5 years of relevant technical and/or project management experience with the design and manufacturing of complex structures and integrated systems.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate on cross-functional teams, integrating feedback from analysis, manufacturing, and systems engineering
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly document and present engineering work
• Comfortable working with external manufacturers and engineering consultants for fabrication and analysis support
• Experience setting and achieving project goals, utilizing project management tools to support execution of project scope
• Experience managing design-build and build to print contracts.
• Familiarity with design and fabrication drawings.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience designing large structural weldments and mechanical joints
• Background in designing and engineering components for high-integrity or safety-critical systems (e.g., nuclear, aerospace, defense, or heavy industry)
• Proven ability to lead hardware projects through the full development cycle—from concept and design to testing and production
• Knowledge of large scale fabrication techniques and transportation/handling of large components
• Understanding of thermal-mechanical analysis principles, with experience designing for high-temperature environments
• Basic knowledge of nuclear fission and radiation effects on materials and components
• Experienced with high tolerance machining techniques.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing processes including precision machining.
• Experience with metrology and tolerance studies
• Familiarity with U.S. design codes, standards, and regulatory requirements.

Competencies

We are looking for a Refueling Supplier Engineer that is:

• An experienced team player who can work effectively across both internal resources and external suppliers
• Passionate about clean energy 
• An optimist at heart
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• Willing to think differently and do things in new ways 
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Excited to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about the problems they are solving while not leaning only on what has been done before 
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions to technical problems
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

About Oklo travel requirements:

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites, and other company events or gatherings. For the first two weeks of onboarding, employees are required to be in person at headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $78,000-$200,000

The salary range provided will be dependent on applicant experience.

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401k, health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Only applicants who meet the definition of a U.S. person under applicable laws may be eligible.

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About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values
Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through  to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.

Candidates should be aware that employment may be contingent upon successful completion of a drug screening, and employees may be subject to drug testing at any time in accordance with company policy and applicable laws.

Recruitment Fraud Disclaimer

Oklo is aware of recent recruitment fraud attempts targeting job seekers. Please be cautious of anyone claiming to represent Oklo who does not contact you from an official Oklo email address.

All legitimate communications from our recruiting team— including application updates, interview requests, and job offers — will come exclusively from an @oklo.com email. Oklo will never ask for sensitive personal information, payments, or account credentials during the hiring process.

If you receive suspicious outreach or have concerns about the authenticity of any communication claiming to be from Oklo, please contact us through the official channels listed on our website.