Nuclear Operations Engineer

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Nuclear Operations Engineer to join our Operations Engineering team.

Position Description

The Nuclear Operations Engineer supports the development and implementation of the operational capabilities needed to safely commission, start up, and operate Oklo facilities. This role translates plant designs, safety requirements, and program requirements into practical methods for operating the plant and conducting operational work.

The Nuclear Operations Engineer helps develop operational programs and the procedures used to implement those programs. The role also provides technical and operational input for normal, general, abnormal, emergency, surveillance, alarm-response, and administrative operating procedures. Working with procedure writers, system engineers, and other subject-matter experts, this engineer helps ensure procedures are technically accurate, operationally practical, and aligned with plant design and program requirements.

This role also supports system turnover, testing, commissioning, startup, and operational-readiness activities across Oklo projects. The Nuclear Operations Engineer may serve as a system owner, technical lead, procedure subject-matter expert, test engineer, or field operations resource depending on the project phase and organizational need.

The Nuclear Operations Engineer works across Operations, Engineering, Regulatory, Safety Analysis, Human Factors, Maintenance, Training, Commissioning and Startup, and other organizations to ensure that Oklo facilities can successfully transition from design and construction into safe and reliable operation.

This position is primarily remote. Travel and temporary onsite assignments will be required as needed to support Oklo facilities, commissioning and startup campaigns, operational projects, design reviews, vendor activities, training, and other company priorities.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Develop, implement, and maintain operational programs, processes, standards, and supporting documentation

• Translate operational-program requirements into clear, practical, and executable implementing procedures

• Provide technical and operational input for normal, general, abnormal, emergency, surveillance, alarm-response, and administrative operating procedures

• Work with procedure writers, system engineers, and other subject-matter experts to develop, review, verify, and validate operating and program-implementing procedures

• Develop operating strategies, operating philosophies, system operating concepts, technical bases, and other foundational operations documents

• Translate design-basis, safety-basis, regulatory, and program requirements into practical operational requirements, methods, and work products

• Serve as a system owner, operations representative, technical lead, or subject-matter expert for assigned systems, programs, or project activities

• Provide operations input during plant and system design reviews to improve operability, maintainability, testability, reliability, human performance, and personnel safety

• Evaluate plant systems as an integrated facility, including the interfaces and dependencies among reactor, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and controls, heat-transport, balance-of-plant, and supporting systems

• Support systemization, construction turnover, system acceptance, preoperational testing, commissioning, startup testing, and operational-readiness activities

• Develop or review test plans and procedures and support the safe execution, evaluation, and documentation of plant testing

• Provide onsite technical and operational support during commissioning, startup, major testing, outages, and other significant project activities

• Confirm plant configuration, system readiness, procedure adequacy, prerequisites, test boundaries, and operational controls before and during field activities

• Incorporate field experience, testing results, design changes, and lessons learned into operational programs, procedures, training, and future plant designs

• Support evaluation of integrated plant response to normal evolutions, anticipated operational occurrences, transients, equipment failures, and accident conditions

• Participate in the development and review of control-room interfaces, human-machine interfaces, alarm strategies, operator displays, controls, and automation

• Identify the personnel, qualifications, training, tools, procedures, and organizational capabilities needed to commission, start up, and operate Oklo facilities

• Support operator training, qualification, simulator development, operational drills, and readiness activities

• Participate in readiness reviews, assessments, inspections, corrective-action activities, and resolution of operational issues

• Provide operational feedback to engineering and program teams to improve plant designs and enable repeatable deployment of future Oklo facilities

• Build effective working relationships with internal teams, contractors, national laboratories, regulators, vendors, and other external stakeholders

• Support multiple Oklo projects and facilities as priorities and project phases evolve

• Qualify as an Oklo plant operator or complete other assigned technical qualifications, as applicable

• Maintain awareness of fast-reactor design, operating experience, testing, research, and relevant industry developments

Minimum Qualifications:

At minimum, we are looking for:

• Bachelor’s degree in nuclear, mechanical, electrical, chemical, or another relevant engineering or technical discipline; equivalent directly applicable nuclear operational experience may be considered in lieu of a degree

• Five or more years of experience in nuclear operations, nuclear engineering, commissioning and startup, power generation, naval nuclear propulsion, national laboratory operations, or another highly regulated technical environment

• Experience developing or implementing operational programs, technical procedures, operating procedures, test procedures, or similar controlled work instructions

• Working knowledge of integrated plant systems and the relationships among mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and controls, and process systems

• Experience translating technical, regulatory, design, safety, or program requirements into executable operational plans, procedures, or work activities

• Experience reading and interpreting technical documents such as drawings, piping and instrumentation diagrams, system descriptions, specifications, calculations, safety analyses, and operating procedures

• Demonstrated ability to work across engineering and operational disciplines to resolve complex technical and organizational issues

• Strong technical writing, verbal communication, and problem-solving skills

• Ability to work independently, manage changing priorities, and make sound decisions using incomplete or evolving information

• Ability and willingness to travel and complete temporary onsite assignments in support of Oklo projects and facilities

• Ability to support shift work, extended hours, or weekend activities during commissioning, startup, testing, or other major project evolutions when required

• Ability to obtain and maintain unescorted access to nuclear facilities, if required

Bonus Qualifications:

Nice-to-haves include:

• Experience as a reactor operator, senior reactor operator, shift technical advisor, system operator, engineering watchstander, or other nuclear facility operator

• Current or previous NRC Reactor Operator or Senior Reactor Operator license or certification

• Relevant qualification through the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, such as Engineering Officer of the Watch, Propulsion Plant Watch Officer, or Engineering Watch Supervisor

• Experience supporting first-of-a-kind nuclear facilities, advanced reactors, microreactors, research reactors, or Department of Energy nuclear facilities

• Experience with sodium-cooled fast reactors, liquid-metal systems, or fast-reactor technology

• Experience with plant construction, systemization, construction turnover, preoperational testing, commissioning, startup testing, or operational-readiness reviews

• Experience developing or implementing conduct-of-operations, configuration-management, work-control, tagging, surveillance, equipment-status-control, or other operational programs

• Experience developing, reviewing, verifying, or validating nuclear operating and program-implementing procedures

• Experience evaluating integrated plant response, transient behavior, heat removal, reactivity control, or functional containment

• Experience with human factors engineering, control-room design, alarm management, human-machine interfaces, digital control systems, simulators, or operator-in-the-loop testing

• Familiarity with applicable NRC requirements, Department of Energy requirements, industry standards, and nuclear safety and quality-assurance programs

• Experience supporting operator training and qualification programs

• Experience working with regulators, national laboratories, contractors, customers, vendors, or other external technical stakeholders

Competencies

We are looking for a [  ] engineer that is:

• Passionate about clean energy 
• Passionate about making advanced fission a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• [Knowledgeable about fast reactor design]
• [Highly skilled with Monte Carlo neutronics tools such as MCNP, SERPENT, and Open-MC]
• [Skilled with deterministic fast reactor tools, or wiling and eager to learn]
• Eager to work on a dynamic team, receive constructive feedback, and grow with us
• 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
• An excellent writer who can write in modern active voice, so make your cover letter compelling and write it well!
• 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: $135,000-$185,000

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, bonuses, competitive pay, 401(k), health insurance (with employer contribution), HSA, FSA, flexible work hours, wellness credits, 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.

Bachelor's degree in nuclear, mechanical, electrical, chemical, or relevant engineering; 5+ years nuclear operations or related experience; ability to travel and work shifts; must be a U.S. person for export control.

Key Responsibilities

• developing operational programs
• translating requirements into procedures
• supporting commissioning and startup

Job Details

• Category: Engineering
• Seniority: Senior Level
• Commitment: Full Time
• Workplace: Remote — Santa Clara, California, United States
• Salary: USD 135,000 – 185,000 / year
• Languages: English

Benefits

• Generous paid time off
• Retirement plan

About Oklo Inc.

A company developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale. — Industry: Advanced Research Institutions