Technical Program Manager, Orion - Reporting to the CTO

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. Technical Program Manager, Orion - Reporting to the CTO - Coordinate Orion execution across science, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, integration, commissioning, and operations readiness. - Help subunit owners assemble and maintain an integrated Orion-level plan, while making clear that each owner remains responsible for their own schedule, scope, and commitments. - Identify cross-team dependencies, interface risks, schedule conflicts, and unresolved ownership gaps. - Ensure major technical decisions are surfaced quickly, framed clearly, and escalated to the right leader or executive when needed. - Highlight technical tradeoffs involving performance, schedule, risk, manufacturability, cost, reliability, and operability. - Drive the cadence for Orion coordination meetings, technical reviews, dependency reviews, and executive decision forums. - Maintain visibility into the plant-level critical path by integrating inputs from responsible owners, not by replacing their ownership of detailed schedules. - Track major risks, blockers, open decisions, and readiness gaps across the Orion program. - Ensure decisions and changes are communicated clearly to all affected teams. - Partner with systems engineering, integration engineering, production scheduling, and technical leads to connect their work into one coherent Orion execution picture. - Provide a concise, accurate view of Orion status, including what is blocked, what decisions are needed, where risks are increasing, and where executive help is required. - Build the TPM function for Orion as the program scales, including standards for dependency tracking, decision logs, risk reviews, readiness gates, and executive reporting. #LI-Onsite #LI-KL1 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.