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Focused Energy is building the future of clean energy through laser-driven inertial fusion, backed by a $240M Series A—the largest fully secured Series A in the global fusion industry. The company operates across Germany and the US, bringing together top scientific and engineering talent to unlock fusion power at commercial scale.
As Technical Lead for Light Generation, you will lead the development of Focused Energy's laser front-end technology, transitioning existing R&D and hardware into a documented, industrially deliverable system for inertial confinement fusion (ICF). This is a technical leadership and technology ownership role focused on setting direction and managing technical experts and suppliers as the front end moves from internal development toward outsourced manufacturing. You will connect near-term decisions to a three- to five-year technology roadmap.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own and develop the front-end technology to meet interface requirements defined by systems engineering, working closely with front-end subsystem and light-conditioning leads.
- Take ownership of the technology roadmap, developing the existing outline into a detailed plan connecting successive projects to long-term goals.
- Lead the technical team, establish clear responsibilities and accountability, and build expertise as the group grows.
- Manage external development and manufacturing partners while retaining strong internal technical expertise.
- Develop supplier strategy, including potential second sources, framework contracts, IP arrangements, and exclusivity considerations.
- Transform existing research and hardware into an industrial engineering baseline with traceable requirements, documentation, design reviews, and a hardware delivery plan.
- Identify and manage technical and delivery risks, make trade-offs under uncertainty, and communicate decisions clearly to technical colleagues and executive leadership.
The role is not a requirement to be the team's deepest laser specialist. You won't start from a blank page—hardware and development work are already in place. The next step is establishing traceable requirements, structured documentation, and approved design reviews while building supplier relationships and delivery plans needed to scale.
Focused Energy offers a competitive salary, stock options, 30 days vacation per year, private pension plan contributions (20% company match), state-of-the-art equipment, flexible commuting support via NAVIT, wellness access through Wellhub, and regular team events. The Darmstadt office includes a canteen with daily lunch options.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Experience leading technical teams: setting direction, resolving disagreements, and creating ownership and accountability.
- Experience delivering complex technology in an industrial setting, balancing timing, resources, documentation, and technical performance.
- Experience managing technical suppliers or development partners, including strategic and commercial discussions.
- Ability to build a multi-year technology roadmap, not just deliver a single project with a fixed end date.
- Sufficient technical understanding to engage with laser front-end specialists, evaluate their input, and make informed decisions. Relevant topics include temporal contrast, spectral bandwidth, and pulse shaping for ICF; deep expertise in every topic is not required.
- Comfort making and owning decisions while requirements and priorities are still evolving, including when important questions remain unresolved for several months.
- Clear communication with technical experts and VP- and C-level stakeholders, including the ability to listen to specialists without needing to be the expert in every discussion.
