Senior Materials Engineer, Ceramic Fabrication

Job description

About Helion We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone. Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors including Thrive Capital, LightSpeed Venture Capital, SoftBank, and others to propel us forward. Our current prototype, Polaris, has reached record-breaking plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius (13 keV). Helion is continuing to iterate and on the path to the world's first fusion power plant, Orion. This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait. What You Will Be Doing: You will contribute to the fabrication, scale‑up, and deployment of advanced ceramic and CMC components, taking materials from lab‑scale development through small‑scale prototypes to full‑scale functional hardware designed for extreme fusion environments. You will report to the Manager of Nuclear Ceramics, in this onsite role located at our Everett, WA office. You Will: - Lead high‑impact, multi‑disciplinary projects focused on ceramic processing, forming, densification, and scale‑up for materials operating under fusion generator conditions, including high neutron radiation. - Drive the translation of ceramic materials from laboratory formulations to prototype parts and full‑scale components, ensuring repeatability, performance, and manufacturability at each stage. - Contribute to the delivery of Helion’s inorganic hardware needs, including plasma containment vessels, electrical insulators, resistive components, and structural ceramics, with hands‑on ownership of fabrication methods. - Serve as the internal ceramics fabrication owner, acting as the “go‑to” person for scalable ceramic processing routes, scale‑up risks, vendor capabilities, and production readiness across the company. - Navigate an environment with technical obstacles and evolving requirements, balancing fabrication risk, schedule, and performance without compromising delivery. - Partner with internal Helion teams, external vendors, national laboratories, and universities to develop scalable ceramic fabrication capabilities, qualify processes and suppliers, and close technical gaps. - Represent Helion in technical discussions, supplier reviews, and conferences related to ceramic processing, prototyping, and scale‑up. Required Skills: - Demonstrated achievement performing bulk and CMCs ceramic process development and fabrication for a material or component used in a commercial product or integral to a large, single‑unit system (e.g., engines, turbines, reactors, or large pressure vessels). - 8+ years of industry experience in ceramics or materials engineering, including delivering projects from lab development through prototype fabrication to full‑scale components, including design reviews. - Proven experience planning and executing ceramic component development efforts guided by milestone schedules, with accountability for hardware delivery. - Hands‑on experience with ceramic powder processing, forming, firing, post‑processing, testing, and characterization. - Experience using ceramic processes to produce large ceramic components and implementation of strategies to reduce scale-up risks. - Desired but not required: experience with radiation‑exposed ceramics or extreme environment testing. - A strong bias for action, with the ability to learn through rapid prototyping, hands‑on fabrication, and iterative scale‑up, executing with urgency in high‑uncertainty environments. #LI-Onsite #LI-TM1 Benefits Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to: - Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families - 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days) - 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break - Up to 5% employer 401(k) match - Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance - Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks) - Annual wellness stipend Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.