Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Develops high-temperature superconducting fusion magnets

Senior Mechanical Engineer - Remote Maintenance

Design EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeDevens, MA, USA$134k - $205k /yr

About the Job

Requirements

A Bachelor of Science in Structural, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering is required.
At least 7 years of mechanical engineering experience in the design, fabrication, testing, operations, integration, and commissioning of complex mechanical structures, such as fusion, fission, aerospace, or marine structures.
At least 7 years of technical experience designing remote handling equipment using robotics or remotely operated precision mechanical structures, such as equipment for remote welding or cutting, manipulation, alignment, rescue, or inspections.
Experience leading research and development campaigns for novel technology to increase technology readiness levels and unlock new design solutions in remote maintenance areas such as remote welding or cutting, inspections, bolting, manipulation, alignment, sensing, mechatronics, radiation hardening, and cleanliness.
Experience with standard actuation, guidance mechanisms, sensing, and structural mechanisms.
Proficiency in structural analysis using hand calculations and finite element analysis; Ansys is preferred.
Familiarity with computer-aided design; NX is preferred.
Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, technical staff, executives, and others.
Ability to clearly express and critique ideas.
Dedication to safety when working around industrial hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead, high voltage, and cryogenics.
Ability to perform activities such as typing and sitting for extended periods.
Willingness to travel or work required nights, weekends, or on-call occasionally.

Responsibilities

Develop the concept of operations for the ARC Remote Maintenance System.
Participate in the pre-conceptual design process for the ARC fusion power plant.
Design radiation-hardened remote handling equipment for ARC using existing robotic technologies, custom hardware, and remotely operated heavy-lift equipment.
Perform maintenance assessments of the tokamak and plant to inform the development of ARC as a remotely maintainable power plant.
Collaborate with tokamak engineering teams to design the ARC tokamak for remote maintainability and develop solutions for tokamak joints.
Perform multidisciplinary trade studies of solutions involving physics, neutronics, design, maintenance, materials, manufacturing, techno-economics, and other disciplines.
Collaborate with multiple teams and manage projects across disciplines to solve multidisciplinary problems.
Identify research and development needs for the ARC remote maintenance program and help establish plans for executing campaigns internally or with external partners.
Research established and emerging remote handling solutions and assess their application to the ARC remote maintenance system.
Work with external remote handling equipment and robotics organizations and industry to manage contracted work, collaborate on research and development, and transfer knowledge and expertise into CFS.
Establish CFS remote maintenance design guidelines for remote handling equipment, the tokamak, and the plant.

Desired Qualifications

A Master of Science in Structural, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering.
Experience with conceptual design of complex systems involving multidisciplinary trade studies of remote handling equipment and machine design, such as tokamaks, fission cores, subsea hardware, or aerospace systems.
Experience implementing radiation-hardened equipment and methods in remote handling equipment design.
Experience with mechatronics or applied robotics.
Experience with rescue or decommissioning remote handling equipment.
Experience with site-layout design for remotely operated facilities.
Experience with activated waste handling, including volume reduction and casking.
Experience with remote cleanliness methods for ultra-high-vacuum environments.
Experience with industrial maintenance facility layout.
Familiarity with sensing, high power, controls, and fluid systems.
Familiarity with ultra-high-vacuum processes.
Experience with fault tree analysis or fault management and recovery for complex integrated systems.
Knowledge of fabrication methods such as welding and machining.
Knowledge of engineering materials basics for metals and composites.
Proficiency in computer-aided design; NX is preferred.
Ability to work autonomously.
Ability to use data to drive decisions.
Familiarity and experience with end-to-end processes emphasizing creativity and simplicity.

Salary Range: 134000 to 205000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

About Commonwealth Fusion Systems:

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is on a mission to deliver the urgent transition to fusion energy.

Combining decades of research, top talent, and new technologies, we’re designing and building commercially viable fusion power plants. And we're working with policymakers, suppliers, and many others to build the energy industry of the future.

We’re in the best position to make it happen. Since 2018, we’ve raised $4 billion of capital, making us the largest and leading fusion company in the world.

Now we’re looking for more thinkers, doers, builders, and makers to join us. People who’ll bring new perspectives, solve tough problems, and thrive as part of a team.

If that’s you and this role fits, we want to hear from you.

Join the power movement as a Senior Mechanical Engineer - Remote Maintenance

CFS is designing ARC as the world’s first commercial fusion power plant with the goal of bringing reliable and clean fusion energy to the grid. Due to device activation and commercial uptime needs, ARC will need periodic, fast, and reliable maintenance to be performed fully remotely. This will require novel solutions and integration in the fields of robotics, remote handling equipment (RHE), plant layout, manufacturing, and tokamak design. ARC’s Remote Maintenance System will thus be a critical aspect of realizing CFS’s mission to deliver the urgent transition to fusion energy.

The Remote Maintenance team is responsible for designing ARC’s Remote Maintenance System. As a Senior Remote Maintenance Engineer on the team, you will develop ARC’s maintenance scheme by designing RHE and collaborating with tokamak and plant engineering teams in the design of a maintainable power plant. You will play a key role in ARC’s pre-conceptual design phase along with other teams and navigate complex multi-disciplinary problems involving physics, neutronics, thermo-fluids, structures, maintenance, manufacturing, assembly, techno-economics, and other disciplines. This role also requires proactive R&D in novel remote maintenance technologies.

What you'll do:

Develop concept of operations for the ARC Remote Maintenance System
Participate in the pre-conceptual design process of the ARC fusion power plant
Design ARC’s radiation hardened remote handling equipment (RHE) by incorporating a mix of existing robotic technologies, custom hardware, and remotely operated heavy lift equipment
Perform maintenance assessments of the tokamak and plant to shape the development of ARC as a remotely maintainable power plant
Collaborate closely with tokamak engineering teams to assist in designing the ARC tokamak for remote maintainability and finding creative and novel solutions to tokamak joints
Perform high level multi-disciplinary trade studies of solutions that involve complex trade offs between physics, neutronics, design, maintenance, materials, manufacturing, techno-economics, and other disciplines
Collaborate with multiple teams and manage projects across different disciplines to help solve tough multi-disciplinary problems
Identify key R&D needed for the ARC remote maintenance program, and help establish the plans to execute the R&D campaigns internally or with external partners
Research existing established and cutting edge remote handling solutions to assess their application in the ARC remote maintenance system
Work with external RHE/robotics organizations and general industry to manage contracted work, collaborate on cutting edge R&D, and transfer knowledge and expertise into CFS
Establish CFS’s remote maintenance design guidelines for RHE, the Tokamak, and plant

What we’re looking for:

Structural, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering B.S
At least 7 years of mechanical engineering experience in the design, fabrication, testing, operations, integration, and commissioning of complex mechanical structures (e.g. fusion, fission, aerospace, marine)
At least 7 years of technical experience in the design of remote handling equipment (RHE) using robotics or remotely operated precision mechanical structures (e.g. remote welding/cutting, manipulation, alignment, rescue, inspections)
Experience in leading R&D campaigns of novel technology to increase TRL and unlock new design solutions in remote maintenance fields such as remote welding/cutting, inspections, bolting, manipulation, alignment, sensing, mechatronics, rad hard, and cleanliness
Experience with standard actuation, guidance mechanisms, sensing, and structural mechanisms
Proficient in structural analysis via both hand calcs and finite element analysis (Ansys preferred)
Familiar with CAD, (NX preferred)
Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, technical staff, executives, and others
Ability to clearly express and critique ideas
Safety conscious

Bonus points for:

Structural, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering M.S
Experience in the conceptual design of complex systems involving high level, multi-disciplinary trade studies of both RHE and machine design(e.g. tokamak, fission core, sub-sea hardware, aerospace)
Experience with the implementation of radiation hardened equipment and methods into RHE design
Experience with mechatronics or applied robotics
Experience with rescue or decommissioning RHE
Experience with site layout design of remotely operated facilities
Experience with activated waste handling (volume reduction, casking)
Experience with remote cleanliness methods for UHV environments
Experience with industrial maintenance facility layout
Familiarity with basics of sensing, high power, controls, and fluid systems
Familiarity with ultra high vacuum processes
Experience with fault tree analysis or fault management and recovery for complex integrated systems
Knowledge of fabrication methods such as welding and machining
Knowledge of engineering materials basics for metals and composites
Proficient in CAD (NX preferred)
Self-driven and autonomous
Aptitude to use data to drive decisions
Familiarity and experience with end-to-end processes with an emphasis on creativity and simplicity
The ability to thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments

Must-have Requirements:

Perform activities such as typing and sitting for extended periods of time
Dedication to safety to mitigate industrial hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, and cryogenics
Willingness to travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call occasionally. Travel expected up to 15%

#LI-Hybrid

At CFS, we excel in fast-paced environments, driven by our values of integrity, execution, impact, and self-critique. As we grow, we’re eager to bring on mission-driven folks who offer diverse perspectives and fresh ways to tackle challenges.

We value diversity deeply and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer by choice. We consider all qualified applicants equally, regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, protected veteran status, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or any other basis protected by law.

This role requires compliance with U.S. laws concerning the export of controlled or protected technologies or information (collectively, “Export Control Laws"). Any offer of employment will be contingent on the need for compliance with such Export Control Laws.

About the Company

Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Develops high-temperature superconducting fusion magnets

Commonwealth Fusion Systems builds fusion energy systems that aim to provide clean, affordable power. It designs tokamaks using high-temperature superconducting magnets to make smaller, less expensive machines. Its flagship SPARC is intended to produce net energy, with ARC envisioned as the first commercial fusion power plant. The company collaborates with MIT and focuses on a data-driven, mission-focused path to scalable fusion energy for large energy users.

Company size: 1,001-5,000
Company stage: Grant
Total funding: $4B
Headquarters: Harvard, MA
Founded: 2018

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