Salary Range: 102000 to 120000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

Xcimer Energy leverages decades of research on Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) combined with groundbreaking new laser architecture. Our mission is to deploy fusion power plants to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible. Xcimer has assembled a team of leaders in tough tech, fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid execution. Supported by leading investors, Xcimer is uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to combat climate change. Join us in powering a better world with inertial fusion!  

This is a full-time, onsite role based at our headquarters in Denver, CO.

As a Technical Project Manager, DOEPartnerships, you will support Xcimer’s public-private partnerships with the U.S. Department of Energy as we design, build, and test the experimental facilitiesand run the numerical investigations that lead to our fusion pilot plant. You will apply your project management skills to coordinate proposals and milestone reporting, manage cost and schedule performance, and help keep our DOE-funded work on track. As part of the Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program team, you will work closely with technical leads to translate program requirements into actionable schedules, track progress across concurrent workstreams, and surface risks before they threaten deliverables.

We are looking for a project manager who is comfortable coordinating both internal engineering teams and outside consultants to deliver complex technical scope, and who can pick up new technical domains quickly, going deep enough to ask the right questions and spot problems early.In this role, you’ll help manage the partnerships that take Xcimer’s fusion pilot plant from design to reality.

Responsibilities

Manage execution of the public-private partnership between Xcimer and the Department of Energy, including milestone tracking, status reporting, and deliverable coordination.

Coordinate across technical teams, external partners, and consultants to keep DOE-funded work on track. Partner with engineering and science teams responsible for technical execution.

Coordinate the next update to the Fusion Pilot Plan (FPP) report to the DOE, including coordination with external consultants and stakeholders, to deliver an update aligned with DOE milestone requirements.

Lead establishment of cost and schedule baselines for the FPP report deliverables and milestones. Track performance against those baselines and support technical leads in keeping work within scope, cost, and schedule commitments.

Communicate accurate and timely program status, award health, risks, and reporting deadlines to Xcimer leadership.

Qualifications

Education: B.S. degree in engineering, physical sciences, project management, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.

Experience: 5+ years of project or program management experience, preferably supporting technically complex engineering, R&D, or hardware development programs.

Demonstrated experience developing and managing project schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, and cross-functional deliverables.

Strong ability to work with technical teams and develop sufficient understanding of complex technical scope to identify dependencies, risks, and execution challenges in unfamiliar domains.

Experience coordinating multiple internal and external stakeholders across concurrent workstreams.

Experience with technical program reporting, proposal development, statements of work, milestone definitions, and deliverable management.

Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex program information for technical teams, executives, and external stakeholders.

Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Desired

Experience working in fusion energy or fusion-adjacent technology, including inertial fusion, high-energy-density physics, plasma physics, high-power lasers, pulsed power, or related fields.

Experience supporting federally funded programs, cooperative agreements, milestone-based awards, or similar public-private partnerships.

Experience working across institutional/organizational cultures (e.g., national labs, universities, private companies).

Experience managing first-of-a-kind hardware, experimental facilities, or complex R&D programs involving significant technical uncertainty.

Experience working with integrated master schedules, critical-path planning, earned value concepts, or other structured cost and schedule performance-management approaches.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Xcimer Energy is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a highly qualified, diverse, and dedicated work force. Xcimer Energy hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust, equality, and teamwork, in which all employees recognize and appreciate the diversity of individual team members. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin/ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local law. Xcimer Energy will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. For more information on “EEO Is the Law,” please see here and here.

Benefits

Xcimer offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support employee health, well-being, and long-term success. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage; basic and supplemental life insurance; short- and long-term disability; paid parental leave for employees at the time of birth or adoption; and a 401(k) with a company match of up to 6%. Eligible employees also receive equity, allowing them to share in the company’s long-term success.

Xcimer operates under a flexible Paid Time Off (ATO) approach. Rather than a fixed number of vacation days, employees are trusted to take the time they need to rest and recharge while meeting the expectations of their role and team. In addition, employees receive paid sick time, 13 company-paid holidays, and an annual paid company shutdown. Benefits are available to regular employees, including part-time and fixed-term roles, as well as interns, with eligibility varying by benefit.

About the company

Xcimer Energy develops inertial fusion energy technology aiming to generate fusion-powered electricity. Its system uses a 10+ megajoule KrF laser to ignite a hydrogen fusion target inside a HYLIFE-style liquid-wall chamber, which absorbs fusion energy and shields reactor walls for long life. The approach combines a high-energy laser, a consumable fusion target, and a liquid-wall chamber to pursue scalable, laser-driven inertial confinement fusion for power generation. The company’s goal is to make commercial fusion power a reality for utilities within the next decade.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Grant

Total Funding

$148.3M

Headquarters

Denver, Colorado

Founded

2021

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

Xcimer raised $100 million in June 2024 and nearly $200 million total.
The company expanded Denver in May 2026 and planned to double headcount.
DOE funding, June 2026 approval, and RTX backing improve financing and recruiting access.

What critics are saying

Vulcan site selection slipped past 2025; further delays push commercialization beyond 2035.
Athena needs multi-megajoule lasers, tritium breeding, and grid integration before any revenue.
Any Phoenix-to-Anvil performance miss would strand Xcimer’s capital-intensive laser platform.

What makes Xcimer Energy unique

Xcimer’s June 2026 DOE-approved Athena roadmap validates its KrF inertial-fusion architecture.
Phoenix started operations June 3, 2026, proving 1-kJ excimer amplification and 38-meter SBS compression.
RTX partnered September 9, 2026, giving Xcimer defense-market validation beyond fusion alone.

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Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
401(k) Company Match
Paid Vacation
Paid Sick Leave
Paid Holidays
Company Equity

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

-3%

2 year growth

-3%

StreetInsider

Oct 6th, 2026

Xcimer Energy secures $30.5M DOE funding for laser fusion development, bringing total federal support to $43.5M

Denver-based Xcimer Energy has secured an additional $30.5 million from the US Department of Energy's Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. This brings the company's total potential DOE milestone funding to $39.5 million, with an additional $4 million previously received from ARPA-E in 2024. The laser fusion company is developing excimer laser technology designed for commercial fusion power plants. Unlike conventional solid-state approaches, Xcimer's architecture uses cost-effective gas lasers and a two-beamline configuration. In June, Xcimer launched Phoenix, the world's largest privately owned laser system. The company recently partnered with RTX to develop directed-energy air defence systems, with RTX also making an investment in Xcimer. Xcimer targets putting electricity on the grid by the mid-2030s. The company has raised approximately $200 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital.

Associated Press

Sep 10th, 2026

RTX invests in Xcimer Energy to develop laser fusion technology for air defense systems

RTX Ventures has made a minority investment in Xcimer Energy Corporation to support development of scalable pulsed-laser technologies. Xcimer has raised nearly $200 million from investors including Hedosophia and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The companies signed a teaming agreement to explore integrating Xcimer's laser technology into RTX's defence systems for defeating airborne threats. Xcimer's fusion pilot power plant design was approved by the US Department of Energy in June as part of the Milestone-based Fusion Development Program. The excimer laser system aims to deliver longer-range performance at lower cost than current directed energy systems. Xcimer expects to deliver fusion energy to the grid by the mid-2030s. RTX's chief technology officer Juan de Bedout said the partnership will explore integrating Xcimer's technology with RTX's expertise in advanced sensing and air defence.

Business Wire

Jun 10th, 2026

DOE approves Xcimer's fusion power plant design, clears path to commercial laser fusion

Xcimer Energy has secured US Department of Energy approval for its preconceptual design and technology roadmap for Athena, its fusion power plant architecture. The milestone, part of the DOE's Fusion Milestone Development Program, positions the Denver-based startup amongst frontrunners to commercialise fusion energy. Xcimer's 724-page submission detailed plant performance targets, economics, engineering requirements, safety analyses and development pathways. Athena integrates the company's proprietary excimer laser platform with target delivery, fusion chamber, tritium breeding and power generation systems designed for industrial scale. The approval follows Xcimer's launch of Phoenix, the world's largest privately owned laser system, at its 74,000-square-foot Denver facility. Founded in 2022, Xcimer is developing laser fusion technology targeting costs under $100 per joule with a chamber design requiring no first-wall replacement.

TechCrunch

Jun 3rd, 2026

World's largest privately owned laser switched on by fusion startup Xcimer Energy

Fusion startup Xcimer Energy has activated its Phoenix laser system, which the company claims is the world's largest privately owned laser. The system uses excimer amplification to generate over one kilojoule of energy through a 38-metre-long krypton-fluoride laser core. Xcimer's approach mirrors the National Ignition Facility, which in December 2022 demonstrated a controlled fusion reaction producing more power than required to ignite it. The company aims to improve upon this concept using more powerful, less complex lasers that compress fuel targets in nanoseconds rather than microseconds. Phoenix represents an early step towards a commercial fusion power plant, which Xcimer estimates would require lasers exceeding 12 megajoules. The company plans to complete a prototype by 2028 and build its first commercial-scale power plant in the mid-2030s.

Business Wire

May 12th, 2026

Xcimer Energy hires defence VP as fusion startup scales team to 400 amid $90M facility build

Xcimer Energy has hired Doug Kunzman as Vice President of Defence as the Denver-based fusion startup scales towards commercial operations. Kunzman brings extensive military and aerospace experience, including commanding US Navy warships and leading operations at Blue Origin and Astra. The company, which now employs nearly 200 people, plans to double its workforce over the next year to advance Vulcan, its next-generation laser fusion facility. Xcimer is developing excimer-laser architecture for scalable inertial fusion energy with applications in energy resilience and national security. Recent leadership additions include Brad Appel as Chief Engineer for Vulcan, previously CTO at Ursa Major and SpaceX; Justin Brynestad as Senior Vice President overseeing Vulcan programme execution; and Rachel Konrad as Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications. Founded in 2022, Xcimer has secured Department of Energy funding.

Xcimer Energy

Technical Project Manager - DOE Partnerships

About the job

Responsibilities

Qualifications

Desired

About the company

Get referred to Xcimer Energy

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

What critics are saying

What makes Xcimer Energy unique

Benefits

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

1 year growth

2 year growth