Full-Time

Lead Engineer

Reactor Support Equipment

Forge Atomics

Forge Atomics

Factory-built water-cooled nuclear reactors

Compensation Overview

$140k - $190k/yr

+ Equity + Stock options + Discretionary bonuses + Employee Stock Purchase Plan

El Segundo, CA, USA

In Person

Relocation is required if not already local. Travel to suppliers and reactor construction sites in other states may be required.

Bachelor's

Category
Mechanical Engineering (1)
Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related technical discipline is required.
  • At least 3 years of engineering experience designing, analyzing, or building mechanical hardware is required.
  • At least 1 year of direct leadership experience leading engineers is required.
  • The candidate must be able to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.
  • The candidate must be able to travel to suppliers and reactor construction sites in other states as necessary.
  • The position involves access to technology subject to U.S. export controls, and any job offer is contingent upon the applicant's capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.
Responsibilities
  • Provide end-to-end ownership of reactor support equipment delivery for Ember Mini, Forge's subscale non-nuclear prototype.
  • Deliver the same ownership at full scale for Ember, Forge's nuclear power plant, designing systems to be produced and deployed at a high rate.
  • Drive conceptual design, architecture trades, and first-order sizing.
  • Develop design requirements where definition is lacking.
  • Perform in-depth first-principles analysis, including detailed system models, to assess and optimize system design.
  • Optimize development speed, cost, and system complexity.
  • Design and execute development, acceptance, and qualification testing.
  • Partner with production and site deployment teams to ensure the system can be manufactured and delivered at a high rate.
  • Recruit, build, and lead a multidisciplinary team of engineers to deliver the product.
Desired Qualifications
  • The candidate should be a creative problem solver who can bring multiple disciplines together and assess risk and make design and development decisions without all available data.
  • The candidate should be able to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere.
  • The candidate should be self-motivated and have strong multitasking, organizational, communication, and documentation skills.
  • The candidate should demonstrate a strong sense of accountability and integrity.
  • The candidate should demonstrate rapid growth, successive positions of increasing responsibility, the ability to get up to speed quickly, and accomplishment of something meaningfully difficult early in their career.

Forge Atomics designs and builds factory-built, water-cooled nuclear fission reactors to provide reliable, carbon-free baseload power. Its core product is the Ember 25 MWe reactor, with a subscale Ember Mini prototype planned before moving to full-scale deployment. The reactors are manufactured in a factory setting, using proven water-cooled reactor technology with decades of operating experience, and then shipped as modules to site where they are installed, commissioned, and operated. The company aims to lower costs and speed deployment by using mature supply chains and a mass-production approach instead of on-site, bespoke construction. Its safety approach relies on passive safety features designed to make accidents physically unlikely. The ultimate goal is to offer safe, scalable nuclear power that complements or replaces intermittent renewables, improving energy security and reducing environmental impact.

Company Size

N/A

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

N/A

Founded

N/A

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • ANS reported Forge’s 2026 Launch Pad selection, validating momentum with nuclear-industry gatekeepers.
  • Forge’s September 2026 site positions Ember for data centers and grid buyers seeking firm power.
  • El Segundo hiring for engineering managers and interns signals active buildout, not paper-company theater.

What critics are saying

  • NRC licensing for a factory-built reactor can consume years before first revenue.
  • A 2026 intern posting still emphasizes export controls and full-time office work, signaling heavy compliance burden.
  • If Ember Mini misses milestones, 300 MWe factory economics collapse before the first reactor sale.

What makes Forge Atomics unique

  • Forge Atomics’ 25 MWe Ember uses factory-built, shippable PWR modules, not bespoke sites.
  • Factory 1 targets 300 MWe yearly output, a manufacturing model rare in nuclear.
  • Ember uses proven uranium dioxide fuel and natural-circulation passive safety, lowering technical novelty risk.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Vision Insurance

Dental Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Stock Options

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Paid Vacation

Paid Parental Leave

Paid Sick Leave