About the Opportunity
A cutting-edge advanced energy company is seeking a Vice President of Engineering to lead the development, validation, and deployment of next-generation compact nuclear power systems for mission-critical applications.
This is a rare executive opportunity to join a well-funded company operating at the intersection of advanced nuclear energy, resilient power, AI infrastructure, defense, and remote/off-grid operations. The company is building a category-defining platform designed to deliver reliable, scalable, high-impact power where conventional infrastructure is limited, vulnerable, or insufficient.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineering executive with deep nuclear experience, strong systems thinking, and a proven ability to lead complex hardware programs from concept through qualification, regulatory readiness, productization, and deployment.
The Role
The VP of Engineering will own engineering strategy, execution, team development, and technical delivery for a highly complex advanced nuclear energy platform. This leader will build and scale a multidisciplinary engineering organization while establishing the systems, processes, culture, and technical rigor required to commercialize mission-critical nuclear technology.
This is not a maintenance role or a narrow functional leadership seat. It is a true executive engineering build opportunity for someone who wants to shape the future of resilient power.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the engineering strategy, roadmap, and execution plan for advanced compact nuclear energy systems.
- Build, scale, and lead a multidisciplinary engineering organization across nuclear, systems, mechanical, electrical, thermal, controls, software, materials, safety, quality, and product engineering.
- Drive product development from architecture and design through prototyping, verification, validation, qualification, regulatory readiness, and deployment.
- Establish engineering operating rhythms, technical reviews, KPIs, design gates, configuration management, documentation standards, and decision-making frameworks.
- Lead risk identification, trade studies, safety analysis, failure mode analysis, and mitigation planning for complex safety-critical systems.
- Ensure engineering outputs meet high standards for safety, quality, traceability, manufacturability, reliability, and long-term scalability.
- Partner closely with executive leadership, operations, supply chain, regulatory/compliance, business development, and strategic partners.
- Support engagement with government stakeholders, defense partners, national laboratories, investors, regulators, and technical advisors.
- Build a culture of technical excellence, accountability, high integrity, speed, and safety-first engineering leadership.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will bring deep experience in nuclear engineering or nuclear-adjacent mission-critical systems, with the executive maturity to lead both technical strategy and organizational scale-up.
Strong backgrounds may include:
- Commercial nuclear power
- Advanced nuclear / SMR / microreactor development
- Naval nuclear propulsion
- Nuclear systems, reactor systems, thermal systems, shielding, safety systems, or power conversion
- DOE, NRC, national lab, defense, or nuclear regulatory environments
- Nuclear-grade quality, safety case development, licensing, qualification, or compliance
- Aerospace, defense, or mission-critical hardware environments with direct nuclear exposure
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline; advanced degree strongly preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in nuclear, advanced energy, aerospace, defense, or similarly regulated safety-critical industries.
- Direct experience with nuclear systems, nuclear-grade engineering, naval nuclear, SMR/microreactor, reactor-adjacent systems, or nuclear regulatory/quality environments.
- Proven success leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and senior technical leaders.
- Track record delivering complex hardware systems from concept through validation, qualification, and commercialization or deployment.
- Strong experience with systems engineering, technical reviews, design controls, verification/validation, safety analysis, risk management, and productization.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, high-growth environment while maintaining rigorous safety and quality standards.
- Strong executive communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Highly Valuable Experience
- Advanced nuclear, SMR, microreactor, or compact nuclear systems
- Naval nuclear propulsion or nuclear-qualified defense systems
- Nuclear safety case development, licensing, qualification, or regulator engagement
- Reactor systems, shielding, thermal management, controls, power conversion, or nuclear materials
- DOE, NRC, national laboratory, defense, or government program collaboration
- Design for manufacturability, supplier qualification, configuration management, and technical audits
- Scaling engineering teams in a venture-backed, high-growth, or greenfield environment
- Security clearance eligibility or prior cleared-environment experience
Why This Opportunity
- Executive-level opportunity to shape a breakthrough advanced nuclear energy platform.
- Direct influence on company strategy, technical direction, product architecture, and engineering culture.
- Mission-driven work tied to resilient power, national security, AI infrastructure, and critical energy independence.
- High earning potential through competitive executive compensation, performance upside, and long-term value creation.
- Relocation assistance provided for South Florida.
- Opportunity to build a world-class engineering organization from a pivotal stage of company growth.
Compensation & Benefits
This role offers a highly competitive executive compensation package, including:
- Strong base salary
- Performance-based bonus opportunity
- Profit sharing / equity-style upside potential
- Comprehensive benefits
- Relocation assistance
- Executive-level impact and long-term growth opportunity