Senior Cloud DevOps Engineer

Valar Atomics is a nuclear energy company focused on scaling high-temperature gas reactors (HTGRs) for grid-independent industrial applications. The company is developing what it calls gigasites, large-scale facilities housing hundreds of nuclear reactors intended to power heavy industry, data centers, hydrogen production, and clean hydrocarbon fuel synthesis. Their reactor design uses TRISO fuel, a graphite moderator, and helium coolant, a combination the company highlights for its strong safety profile and proliferation resistance. By operating outside the traditional electricity grid, Valar Atomics aims to unlock economies of scale that have historically eluded the nuclear industry. Valar Atomics' mission centers on making nuclear energy the cheapest and most reliable energy source in the world, with a particular emphasis on decarbonizing industrial processes and enabling clean fuel production. Their hydrogen output, generated via a sulfur-iodine thermochemical cycle, can be combined with captured CO2 to produce synthetic hydrocarbons through a modified Fischer-Tropsch process, offering a pathway to drop-in clean fuels. The company also targets the surging power demands of AI data centers, which are projected to require over 200 additional terawatt-hours of grid power by 2030. The company is currently advancing its Ward 250 project, a test reactor being developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, the San Rafael Energy Research Center, and the State of Utah, with a target go-live date of July 4, 2026, America's 250th birthday. The reactor has already been physically transported to Emery County, Utah, with logistical support from the U.S. military. Four executive orders issued under the Trump administration provided a mandate supporting the project's accelerated deployment timeline.

About Valar Atomics

At Valar Atomics, we're redefining what's possible in energy. Our mission is to make clean, high-temperature nuclear power scalable—unlocking abundant energy for industry, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe nuclear energy should be fast to deploy, factory-made, and built for the real world. Our first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah will demonstrate how advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication can power the future. Joining Valar Atomics means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level.

The Team 

As part of the Business organization, IT & Enterprise Software delivers the technology infrastructure, enterprise applications, and digital tools that power Valar's operations. The team ensures secure, reliable, and scalable technology solutions that support every function across the company. 

The Role 

Valar Atomics is looking for an experienced Cloud DevOps Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable, secure, and highly available infrastructure primarily in AWS, with additional support for workloads in Azure. The ideal candidate has hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipeline design, GitHub Enterprise, and Terraform, and thrives in a fast-paced environment where automation and reliability are top priorities. 

You'll work closely with software engineering, security, and platform teams to streamline deployments, improve system observability, and drive infrastructure-as-code best practices across the organization. 

This position is fully on-site at our Torrance, CA location. Relocation assistance is not available.

Key Responsibilities 

• AWS: Design, implement, and maintain cloud infrastructure primarily on AWS (EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, RDS, Lambda, EKS, etc.), with secondary support for Azure services 
• Kubernetes: Build, manage, and optimize Kubernetes clusters (EKS and/or AKS) for containerized workloads, including scaling, networking, and security configurations 
• CI/CD: Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate build, test, and deployment processes across multiple environments 
• GitHub Enterprise: Manage source control workflows, branch policies, and repository administration 
• Terraform: Write, maintain, and review Terraform modules to provision and manage infrastructure as code across cloud providers 
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions to ensure system reliability and rapid incident response (e.g., CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor) 
• Collaborate with development teams to improve deployment velocity, reduce lead time, and support GitOps practices 
• Enforce and improve cloud security best practices, including IAM policies, secrets management, and compliance standards 
• Troubleshoot production issues across cloud infrastructure, container orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines 
• Participate in on-call rotation and incident response as needed 
• Document infrastructure architecture, runbooks, and operational procedures
• Continuously evaluate and recommend new tools, technologies, and processes to improve system reliability and developer experience 

Basic Qualifications  

• 5+ years of experience in a DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or Cloud Infrastructure Engineering role 
• AWS: Strong hands-on experience with core services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, RDS, EKS, Lambda, CloudFormation, etc.) 
• Azure: Working knowledge (AKS, Azure DevOps, VNets, Azure AD, etc.) 
• Kubernetes: Solid experience administering and troubleshooting clusters in production environments 
• CI/CD: Proven experience building and maintaining pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar) 
• GitHub Enterprise: Hands-on experience including repository management, branch protection, and access controls 
• Terraform: Strong proficiency for infrastructure-as-code, including module design and state management 
• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Bash, Python, or Go 
• Solid understanding of networking concepts (DNS, load balancing, VPNs, firewalls) 
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker) and container registries 
• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, Datadog, or similar) 
• Strong understanding of security best practices in cloud environments (IAM, secrets management, least privilege access) 

Preferred Skills and Experience  

• Relevant certifications (AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Azure Administrator/DevOps Engineer Expert) 
• Prior military service in US Airforce or Navy, particularly in communications, networking, cybersecurity, IT, or other technical fields, is highly valued. Relevant military training and operational experience will be considered alongside civilian industry experience.
• Experience with GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Flux) 
• Experience with service mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd) 
• Familiarity with policy-as-code tools (OPA, Sentinel) 
• Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) 
• Background in software development or systems engineering 

What We Offer  

• Competitive base salary 
• Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company 
• Comprehensive medical benefits 
• Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite 
• Generous PPE stipend
• High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy 
• Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement 
• Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders 
• The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Valar Atomics is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).