Development Associate

Last Energy is a nuclear energy company that designs, builds, owns, and operates small modular reactors (SMRs) for industrial and commercial customers. The company's flagship product, the PWR-20, is a 20 MWe pressurized water reactor that is fully modular and factory-produced, enabling faster and more cost-effective deployment than traditional nuclear power plants. Last Energy serves as a behind-the-meter independent power producer, supplying reliable baseload electricity to energy-intensive industries including data centers, metals production, food and beverage, pulp and paper, chemicals, and cement manufacturing. The company's mission centers on making nuclear power radically simpler and more accessible by removing the burden of development, financing, and operations from customers through a power purchase agreement model. This approach aligns nuclear energy deployment with the urgent need for resilient, low-carbon power, particularly as demand from AI infrastructure and industrial growth accelerates. Last Energy's use of proven reactor technology combined with proprietary steel containment systems is designed to streamline licensing and reduce construction timelines. Last Energy represents a new generation of nuclear developers focused on decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors with firm, emissions-free power. By standardizing and modularizing the entire plant through factory manufacturing, the company aims to bring predictable costs and schedules to a sector historically challenged by both, positioning SMRs as a practical climate solution at commercial scale.

Last Energy seeks a Development Associate to support the development of our micro modular nuclear power plant portfolio across domestic and international markets. This is a supporting role on a small, fast-moving team — you will be the person who keeps the numbers sharp, the schedules current, and the risks visible.

Day to day, that means building and maintaining cost estimates, project schedules, and risk registers across multiple active development sites; tracking consultant spend and milestones; and producing the analysis that helps the development team make faster, better decisions. If you're the kind of person who instinctively reaches for a spreadsheet, thinks in contingencies, and gets satisfaction from bringing order to complex, multi-variable problems, this role is for you.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Build and maintain detailed project schedules across multiple active development sites, tracking milestones, dependencies, and critical path for pre-construction deliverables

Develop and update cost estimates for site development activities, including consultant scopes, permitting fees, site studies, and interconnection costs

Maintain risk registers for each active site, tracking identified risks, probability, and impact assessments, mitigation actions, and ownership

Support the team in tracking consultant budgets and invoices against approved scopes of work, flagging variances, and helping to manage spend across the portfolio

Support due diligence workstreams by gathering, organizing, and analyzing data from geotechnical, environmental, survey, and interconnection consultants

Help maintain organized project files, tracking documents, and records across a multi-site, multi-jurisdiction portfolio

Assist senior team members with analysis and materials for regulatory submissions, site control negotiations, and partner-facing deliverables as needed

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Finance, or a related field

2–5 years of experience in project controls, cost estimating, project management support, or a related analytical role; energy, infrastructure, or construction experience is a plus

Advanced Excel skills are essential — you should be comfortable building cost models, schedule trackers, and risk matrices from scratch

Familiarity with project scheduling tools (Smartsheet, MS Project, Primavera P6, or similar) is a plus

Strong quantitative and analytical instincts — comfortable working with uncertain inputs, building in contingencies, and communicating ranges rather than false precision

Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills; able to track many moving pieces across multiple projects simultaneously without dropping the ball

Clear, concise written communication — you will be summarizing complex status and analysis for internal audiences regularly

Eager to learn the specifics of nuclear project development, regulatory processes, and energy infrastructure; prior knowledge is a plus but not required

Strong self-starter with the ability to quickly adapt strategy in a fast-paced environment