Heating Systems Lead

Job description

**About Thea Energy:** Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering to create a faster and simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy. The company is reinventing the stellarator using computer-controlled arrays of planar coils thereby replacing the intricate, complex modular magnets required in all other stellarator architectures. Thea Energy is on a mission to create a limitless source of zero emission energy for a sustainable future. **Position Overview:** As Heating Systems Lead, you will oversee the design, development, implementation, and operation of plasma heating systems for Thea Energy’s flagship fusion systems. This is a high-impact, senior-level role requiring deep technical expertise in magnetic confinement fusion heating, excellent team-building capabilities, and a collaborative mindset to interface with our core fusion physics, systems, and engineering teams. ### Key Responsibility Areas: - Lead and mentor a team of engineers, scientists, and technicians in the design, construction, testing, and operation of plasma heating systems. Manage the budget, vendor relations, and procurement of highly specialized hardware. - Oversee multiple plasma heating system projects ensuring technical excellence and timely delivery. - Serve as a technical advisor for plasma heating programs, providing guidance on system architecture, diagnostics, fusion absorption, and operation. - Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. - Ensure compliance with industry standards and best practices in heating system design and safety. - Define a comprehensive system roadmap for the Eos device and future power plants, ensuring heating system capabilities align with core physics, engineering, and power plant requirements. - Own the conceptual, preliminary, and final engineering designs of heating systems. Ensure these systems integrate seamlessly into the spatial constraints of our planar coil stellarator. - Serve as the primary point of contact for diagnostics partnerships with national laboratories, academic institutions, and vendors to accelerate deployment. ### Ideal Experience & Skillsets: - Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field. - 10+ years of experience in RF, microwave, or related technologies, with a focus on high-power systems. - Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams and managing complex projects. - Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, high-autonomy startup environment where prioritizing first-of-a-kind problem solving is the norm. #LI-RD1 ### Company Benefits: - Salary range $150,000-$240,000 - Comprehensive health benefits (e.g. medical/dental/vision) - Employee equity stock options - 20 days PTO