Plasma-Material Interaction (PMI) Manager

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:** We are seeking an experienced Plasma-Material Interaction (PMI) Manager to lead the development of high-performance plasma-facing materials and components (PFCs) for our Eos and Helios stellarators. In this role, you will bridge plasma physics, materials engineering, and component integration to address high heat-flux management, surface erosion, and hydrogen isotope retention in quasi-axisymmetric, planar-coil stellarator architectures. You will direct in-house experimental campaigns, oversee specialized test facilities, and manage key external research and procurement partnerships to de-risk wall environments for steady-state fusion operations. ### Key responsibilities: - Direct the research, design, and qualification of plasma-facing materials—including first-wall armor and divertor target materials for Eos and Helios stellarators. - Oversee the preparation, execution, and analysis of PMI experiments on the Eos stellarator and dedicated in-house test facilities. - Act as the technical lead for external collaborations with national laboratories, university research groups, and commercial vendors for material synthesis, neutron irradiation testing, surface diagnostics, and PFC component procurement. - Lead the computational efforts to simulate erosion, redeposition, and thermal shock degradation in real time. - Work closely with mechanical design and physics modeling teams to translate PMI simulation and experimental data into validated inputs for plasma transport and engineering designs. ### Required Experience & Skillsets: **Required Qualifications** - **Education:** Ph.D. in Materials Science, Plasma Physics, Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related discipline. - **Experience:** 8+ years of technical experience in plasma-surface interactions, high-temperature materials, or magnetic confinement fusion engineering, with at least 3+ years managing technical projects or multidisciplinary teams. - **Technical Expertise:** - In-depth understanding of edge plasma dynamics, sputtering, redeposition, helium ash/hydrogen isotope retention, and high heat flux behavior. - Practical experience designing, building, or operating plasma-facing test rigs or boundary diagnostics on magnetic confinement devices (stellarators or tokamaks). - Strong knowledge of materials testing, characterization methods, and procurement workflows for high-temperature and plasma-exposed materials. - **Leadership & Communication:** Track record of driving complex R&D initiatives, managing external vendor and research contracts, and working against tight engineering deadlines. **Preferred Qualifications** - Direct exposure to fusion plasma physics, stellarator configurations, or fusion plasma divertor concepts such as X-point divertors. - Experience with computational modeling tools, including coupled plasma-transport and surface kinetics codes (SOLPS, UEDGE, EMC3-EIRENE, ERO2.0, WallDYN), BCA tools (SDTrimSP, RustBCA, TRIM), and FEA thermomechanical software (ANSYS, COMSOL). ### Company Benefits: - Salary range $130,000-$165,000 - Comprehensive health benefits (e.g. medical/dental/vision) - Employee equity stock options - 20 days PTO