Nuclear Operations Engineer

Antares Nuclear is an advanced nuclear energy company developing factory-produced fission microreactors designed for strategic energy applications on Earth, in space, and underwater. Their flagship product, the R1 Microreactor, delivers between 100 kilowatts and 1 megawatt of electrical power for six or more years, utilizing TRISO coated particle fuel in a prismatic graphite core, sodium heat pipes for passive heat transfer, and a nitrogen Brayton cycle for efficient power conversion. The company emphasizes simple, reliable engineering optimized for manufacturability and deployment in remote or contested environments, including defense-critical assets.

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.

Formed in 2023, the Antares team hails from SpaceX, The White House, MIT, Rigetti Computing, The Air Force, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, and National Laboratories like Los Alamos, Idaho, and Oak Ridge. Antares has raised over $130M in venture capital from top-tier investors and has over $13M in government funding.

About The Role

We are seeking a Nuclear Operations Engineer to ensure Antares’ nuclear programs and systems are translated into executable, deployable approaches and to help run and operate reactor systems. This role sits within nuclear operations, and is responsible for ensuring that reactors can be successfully deployed, started, and are operated as complete systems in a manner tightly coupled to the design basis, safety basis and plant programs.

This role will serve in our Nuclear Operations organization with responsibility for development and deployment of the operational programs necessary for ensuring that operational requirements are aligned and achievable in real-world environments while supporting the training and development of operations personnel.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Ensure the safe and efficient operation of reactor experiments and plant facilities in order to maximize plant availability and customer expectations.

• Responsible for nuclear training programs for operators and maintenance personnel.

• Responsible for identification of required staffing and development of procedures, personnel and programs necessary for successful operation.

• Set and maintain high standards for performance and operational excellence.

• Ensure the effective operation of nuclear activities for Antares test and deployed reactors.

• Participate in and drive technical discussions, reviews, and working groups with internal and external stakeholders

• Provide feedback to engineering and program teams to improve the scalability and repeatability of reactor deployments

• Obtain your Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator qualifications in support of facilitating the operations of test and deployed reactors.

Basic Qualifications:

• 2+ years of experience in nuclear, aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated technical environments

• Experience working across multiple disciplines to deliver complex systems or projects

• Demonstrated ability connecting technical, regulatory, and operational requirements into executable plans

• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-paced environments

• Demonstrated technical communication skills, with the ability to engage both internal teams and external stakeholders

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• BS, MS, or PHD in engineering (nuclear, mechanical, chemical, aerospace, or related field)

• Experience supporting reactor operations, startup, commissioning, or deployment
  Familiarity with nuclear safety and compliance programs

• Experience working with customers, regulators, or external partners in technical settings

• Prior experience in the U.S. Navy nuclear program, national laboratories, or commercial nuclear industry

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.