Senior, Civil Engineer

Job description

About Us At Antares, our long-term mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. We’re fueled by the belief that advanced nuclear energy can strengthen our military, solve the climate crisis, elevate global living standards, and expand humanity's presence in outer space. To achieve our mission, we’re building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors that can be used terrestrially, underwater, and in space. The Antares team hails from SpaceX, the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, MIT, Rigetti Computing, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, and National Laboratories like Idaho, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Savannah River. Antares has raised over $600M in venture capital from top-tier investors and has hundreds of million-dollars on contract with the military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy. About the Team The Antares Reactor Deployments team is responsible for bringing the Antares R1 microreactor from the factory to operational service. Working across engineering, manufacturing, licensing, construction, supply chain, and operations, the team develops repeatable deployment solutions that enable rapid installation of factory-built microreactors at commercial, defense, and government sites. As a Senior Civil Engineer, you will lead the development of deployment sites that support safe, efficient, and cost-effective reactor installation. You'll evaluate prospective sites, develop standardized civil infrastructure, and work with multidisciplinary engineering teams to create modular site designs that can be deployed repeatedly with minimal site-specific customization. This role spans the full project lifecycle—from customer site evaluation and conceptual planning through detailed design, permitting, construction, commissioning, and fleet deployment. You'll help establish the civil engineering standards and deployment methodologies that enable Antares to scale reactor deployments while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality, and constructibility. Success in this role requires close collaboration with reactor, structural, mechanical, electrical, licensing, manufacturing, construction, and operations teams to ensure each deployment site is optimized for rapid installation, long-term operation, and regulatory compliance. Roles and Responsibilities: - Lead civil engineering activities supporting deployment of the Antares R1 microreactor. - Evaluate prospective deployment sites for geotechnical conditions, grading, drainage, utilities, transportation access, constructibility, environmental constraints, and permitting requirements. - Develop standardized site layouts that enable repeatable deployment across commercial, defense, and government applications. - Design site grading, drainage systems, stormwater management, access roads, equipment pads, underground utilities, and civil infrastructure. - Develop reactor site layouts including reactor silos, balance-of-plant facilities, electrical infrastructure, security systems, and operational support facilities. - Coordinate geotechnical investigations and incorporate subsurface conditions into foundation and site designs. - Work closely with structural engineers to develop foundations, reinforced concrete structures, retaining walls, and below-grade facilities. - Coordinate with reactor, mechanical, electrical, controls, manufacturing, licensing, and construction teams to optimize deployment designs. - Support transportation planning, heavy-haul logistics, crane studies, equipment installation, and construction sequencing. - Prepare engineering calculations, specifications, design drawings, cost estimates, and construction packages through conceptual, preliminary, and final design. - Support permitting activities including grading permits, stormwater permits, environmental reviews, utility coordination, and site development approvals. - Interface with customers, EPC contractors, government agencies, and regulatory organizations throughout project execution. - Support construction, commissioning, startup, and lessons learned to continuously improve standardized deployment designs. - Develop engineering standards, design guides, and best practices that improve deployment speed, quality, and repeatability. Basic Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. - 7+ years of experience in civil engineering supporting industrial, power generation, energy, defense, or large infrastructure projects. - Experience with site development including grading, drainage, utilities, roadway design, and civil infrastructure. - Experience developing engineering drawings, specifications, and construction documents. - Experience coordinating multidisciplinary engineering projects. - Working knowledge of applicable civil engineering codes and industry standards. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills. - Ability to adapt to change in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment. Preferred Skills & Experience: - Professional Engineer (PE) license. - Master's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline. - Experience supporting nuclear facilities, military installations, industrial plants, or energy infrastructure. - Experience with geotechnical engineering and foundation design. - Experience supporting site permitting and environmental compliance. - Experience working with EPC contractors during construction. - Knowledge of transportation planning for oversized and heavy equipment. - Experience developing modular or standardized facility designs. - Familiarity with DOE, NRC, Department of War, or Department of the Army engineering requirements. - Experience working in highly regulated industries. Additional Requirements: - Ability to travel up to 30% to customer locations, manufacturing facilities, testing sites, and deployment locations. - Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to support critical project milestones. - Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance. - Ability to work at DOE, Department of Defense, Department of the Army, and commercial nuclear facilities while complying with applicable security and safety requirements. Location: - We are located in Torrance, CA in a 322,000 square foot, brand new facility featuring large open spaces for team collaboration, R&D, and production, as well as easy access to the 405, 105, and 110 freeways. Our facility is in the heart of Los Angeles' vibrant emerging tech ecosystem alongside many other high growth startups and enterprises. Culture At Antares, we like to specifically tie each role to our founding document’s set of values–here are the top five cultural values we think you should believe at your core to be successful: - Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems with numerous stakeholders with competing priorities, conflicting policies, perverse incentives, and emergent and path-dependent properties. First principles thinking alone is insufficient. Think probabilistically and then take action. “If you want to be certain, then you are apt to be obsolete.” Over-optimizing the components often degrades the system - Obsess over the End User - The customer and end user are often not the same. We will never build globally competitive commercial products if we lose sight of our end users and their entire interaction with the product life cycle - Be Unconstrained by Convention - Our only limits are the laws of physics. Many, even experts, will say what we are working on is impossible. They said the same about SpaceX reusing rockets. Generationally impactful companies, by definition, must accomplish the seemingly impossible. If it were easy, it would have already been done. Never shy away from a solution because it has never been tried before, and never choose to do something because that's “how it's always been done” - Go Where the Work Is - Never miss a chance to meet a customer, user, or stakeholder face to face, even if that means hopping on a plane. If you can’t make it, find a teammate who can channel your intentions and go in your place. Deep work can be done from anywhere, but we believe teams are built in person, and aim to maximize our time together - Operate in the Grey - Embrace nuance in pursuit of truth. Question every fundamental assumption Equal Opportunity Antares is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. ITAR REQUIREMENTS To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987.