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Salary: USD 130,000 - 190,000 / annual
Oklo is seeking a Core Design Engineer to join its advanced fission energy team. In this role, you will be responsible for designing performant and manufacturable reactor cores that balance neutronic, thermal hydraulic, material, mechanical, and economic considerations. You will execute multiphysics simulations to assess core performance, write clear and thorough design documentation, perform analyses to validate and verify core requirements, and work closely with fabrication engineers to mature designs.
Core design is an interdisciplinary field requiring a holistic understanding of reactor physics to quickly assess how proposed design changes impact core performance. You will translate top-level stakeholder requirements into well-written system functional requirements, model core performance over time through multiphysics simulations and first-principles approaches, document work using modern tools and techniques, and collaborate cross-functionally to define performance requirements.
Oklo is a venture-backed advanced fission company that received the first 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. The company is developing fast fission power plants for clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale, establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes, and advancing nuclear fuel recycling.
This is a hybrid role based in Santa Clara, CA. Remote employees are required to travel to headquarters twice per calendar quarter for team meetings, company offsites, and business gatherings. The first two weeks of onboarding must be completed in person at headquarters.
The ideal candidate is a startup-minded individual who thrives in fast-paced, highly iterative environments. You should be self-motivated, an excellent communicator, detail-oriented, and passionate about clean energy and advanced fission. You will work as part of a collaborative team that values ownership, humility, and pathfinding.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in nuclear engineering or related field
- Experience with core design from a multidisciplinary perspective
- Experience with object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Python, C++)
- Experience with neutronic analyses
- Experience with thermal hydraulic analysis
- Experience with material analysis
**Bonus Qualifications:**
- Familiarity with fast reactor core design principles
- Experience with fuel cycle optimization
- Familiarity/experience with ternary fuel and ternary fuel cycles
- Experience with CI/CD computing environments
- Experience with Monte Carlo neutronics tools (SERPENT, MCNP, SCALE, etc.)
- Experience with deterministic neutronics tools (DIF3D, PERSENT, etc.)
- Experience with reactor systems codes (SAS4A/SASSYS-1, SAM, RELAP, TRACE, GOTHIC, etc.)
- Experience with fuel analysis and fuel performance software (BISON, LIFE-METAL, etc.)
- Fluency in Python
