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Salary: USD 100,000 - 140,000 / annual
Valar Atomics is a Series A advanced nuclear energy company building scalable, factory-made nuclear power systems for industrial, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing applications. The company is establishing a pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah and is building out manufacturing capabilities in Torrance, California.
The Graphite Production Lead will run day-to-day operations for the graphite machining department and lead a growing team of CNC programmers and machinists. Graphite is a specialized, abrasive material central to reactor components. This role owns the complete production workflow from CNC programming through final inspection, including production scheduling, tooling strategy, and quality standards.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead, schedule, and mentor a team of CNC programmers and machinists focused on graphite production
- Own tooling and consumable strategy for graphite machining, managing rapid tool wear specific to abrasive materials
- Review and refine CNC programs (ESPRIT EDGE, Fusion 360) and toolpaths for graphite parts, partnering with programmers to troubleshoot setups
- Ensure dust collection, ventilation, and PPE protocols are followed to keep graphite machining operations safe and compliant
- Coordinate production priorities and schedules with management to hit build timelines
- Partner with Engineering and QC on design-for-manufacturability feedback and first-article inspection for new graphite parts
- Drive 5S, continuous improvement, and quality standards on the graphite production floor
- Hire, train, and develop team members as graphite production scales; conduct performance reviews
The role is based in Torrance, California, with the manufacturing team supporting the pilot plant development in Utah.
Requirements:
- 5+ years of CNC machining or programming experience, including experience with graphite or other abrasive materials
- 3+ years in a lead or supervisory role over a machining or production team
- Proficiency with CAM software (ESPRIT EDGE, Fusion 360, or similar) for mills and/or lathes
- Strong understanding of tooling wear, feeds/speeds, and work-holding strategies specific to graphite or other abrasive materials
- Ability to read and work from complex engineering drawings, GD&T, and CAD models
- Familiarity with dust collection, ventilation, and safety protocols for machining abrasive/particulate-generating materials
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced startup manufacturing environment with evolving processes
Preferred experience:
- Direct experience machining nuclear-grade or high-purity graphite
- Experience with in-machine probing for part verification
- Experience with automation or lights-out programming
- 5-axis programming experience
- Experience standing up new machining processes or a new production line from scratch
