Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Develops high-temperature superconducting fusion magnets

Senior Process Engineer

Process EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

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

About the Job

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering or a closely related discipline.
At least 7 years of relevant industrial process engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated depth of experience.
Strong command of chemical engineering fundamentals, including mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, phase equilibrium, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, transport phenomena, unit operations, and process dynamics and control.
Experience designing process systems for large-scale industrial facilities.
Demonstrated experience taking process systems through a structured Front-End Loading (FEL) or equivalent stage-gated project development process, from concept and process definition through detailed engineering and execution.
Experience with process scale-up, technology scale-up, or translating process requirements into commercial-scale equipment and facilities.
Demonstrated experience developing core process engineering deliverables, including process design bases, heat and material balances, process flow diagrams (PFDs), piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), equipment specifications, datasheets, and process calculations.
Experience sizing, specifying, and selecting industrial process equipment.
Hands-on experience operating, commissioning, starting up, performance testing, and troubleshooting industrial process systems and physical equipment.
Experience working directly with operators and technicians and using operating data and field observations to diagnose process performance.
Experience with process simulation and analysis tools such as EcoSim, Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus, AVEVA Process Simulation, or equivalent.
Experience with process safety and hazard analysis, including HAZOP or equivalent methodologies.
Experience with relief system design and overpressure protection.
Experience working with and integrating other engineering disciplines, including mechanical, piping, instrumentation and controls, electrical, safety, operations, and construction.
Experience working directly with equipment vendors, fabricators, engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) organizations, or construction contractors.
Familiarity with applicable process industry codes and standards, including ASME B31.3 and ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) Section VIII.
Ability to clearly express and critique technical ideas, assumptions, risks, and tradeoffs.
Strong engineering judgment and the ability to recognize when analytical or simulation results do not make physical sense.
Attention to detail, with an emphasis on practical, elegant, and commercially viable engineering solutions.
Values aligned with integrity, execution, impact, and self-critique.
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally.
Ability to perform activities such as stooping, climbing, typing, standing, and sitting for extended periods.
Willingness to occasionally travel or work required nights, weekends, or on-call, including occasional travel to suppliers, contractors, or operating facilities.
Willingness and ability to work hands-on in industrial, construction, commissioning, and operating environments.
Dedication to safety while mitigating hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead, high voltage, high current, pressure systems, vacuum systems, hazardous materials, and cryogenics.
Ability to comply with U.S. laws concerning export of controlled or protected technologies or information; any employment offer is contingent on this compliance.

Responsibilities

Own process engineering scope for complex systems from early concept through design, construction, commissioning, start-up, and operation.
Develop process concepts and translate fundamental engineering requirements into practical, commercially viable industrial systems.
Develop process design bases, operating envelopes, design cases, process flow diagrams, heat and material balances, utility balances, piping and instrumentation diagrams, equipment lists, line lists, and process datasheets.
Apply chemical engineering fundamentals, including thermodynamics, phase equilibrium, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, transport phenomena, reaction engineering, separations, process dynamics, and process control.
Develop steady-state and dynamic process models and use engineering analysis to guide system architecture, equipment selection, and operating strategy.
Size and specify process equipment, including pumps, compressors, blowers, heat exchangers, vessels, columns, piping systems, control valves, relief devices, and other unit operations.
Lead process engineering through Front-End Loading (FEL) and progressively mature systems from conceptual design through process definition and engineering definition.
Evaluate process alternatives and technical tradeoffs considering performance, safety, reliability, operability, maintainability, capital cost, and lifecycle cost.
Develop equipment and package specifications, technically evaluate vendor proposals, and work directly with equipment suppliers and fabricators.
Lead or contribute to process safety activities, including HAZOPs, design reviews, relief and depressurization studies, consequence evaluations, and development of safeguards.
Develop process control philosophies, operating sequences, alarm requirements, permissives, interlocks, and operating limits in collaboration with controls engineers and operators.
Perform multidisciplinary technical reviews to ensure systems are safe, operable, maintainable, and capable of achieving their intended process function.
Support procurement, fabrication, construction, installation, inspection, and field engineering, including field walkdowns and resolution of design and construction issues.
Develop commissioning plans, test procedures, operating procedures, and start-up strategies, and participate directly in commissioning, start-up, performance testing, and operation of process systems.
Troubleshoot operating equipment and processes using first-principles engineering, process data, field observations, and structured process investigations.
Capture lessons learned from construction, commissioning, and operation and translate them into improvements in process safety, reliability, operability, maintainability, performance, engineering standards, and future designs.
Provide technical leadership and mentor less-experienced engineers on complex process engineering problems.

Desired Qualifications

Experience designing, commissioning, or operating large-scale cryogenic systems, particularly helium systems.
Experience in power generation, petrochemical, liquefied natural gas (LNG), industrial gases, chemical processing, nuclear, or other large-scale process facilities.
Experience with steam systems, particularly steam generation, steam distribution, condensate, and balance-of-plant systems.
Experience designing, commissioning, or operating molten salt systems.
Experience designing, commissioning, or operating industrial vacuum or high-vacuum systems.
Experience with industrial gas processing, purification, separation, or fueling systems.
Experience with large-scale process utilities, including cooling water, chilled water, compressed or instrument air, nitrogen, and other plant utility systems.
Experience scaling first-of-a-kind technologies from pilot or demonstration scale to commercial operation.
Experience with dynamic process simulation and control-system development.
Experience with industrial automation.
Professional Engineer licensure.

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 Process Engineer

CFS is looking for a Senior Process Engineer with deep chemical engineering fundamentals and experience designing, scaling up, commissioning, and operating process systems in large industrial facilities.

The ideal candidate comes from an industry such as power generation, petrochemical processing, liquefied natural gas (LNG), industrial gases, chemicals, air separation, cryogenic refrigeration, pulp & paper, or another large-scale process industry. You understand how to translate fundamental process requirements into practical industrial systems and have taken designs from early concepts through Front-End Loading (FEL), detailed engineering, construction, commissioning, start-up, and operation.

Fusion power plants bring together process technologies that traditionally span multiple industries. At CFS, you will have the opportunity to work across cryogenic systems including helium and nitrogen, power generation and steam systems, molten salt systems, fueling and gas processing, vacuum systems, and process utilities such as cooling water and instrument air.

We are looking for an engineer who understands how these systems behave in the real world because they have personally designed, built, commissioned, operated, or troubleshot industrial process equipment. You should be equally comfortable developing a process design basis, building a heat and material balance, sizing equipment, originating and owning P&IDs, leading a HAZOP, walking down installed piping, supporting start-up, and diagnosing why an operating system is not performing as designed.

What you'll do:

Own process engineering scope for complex systems from early concept through design, construction, commissioning, start-up, and operation
Develop process concepts and translate fundamental engineering requirements into practical, commercially viable industrial systems
Develop process design bases, operating envelopes, design cases, process flow diagrams (PFDs), heat and material balances, utility balances, P&IDs, equipment lists, line lists, and process datasheets
Apply chemical engineering fundamentals including thermodynamics, phase equilibrium, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, transport phenomena, reaction engineering, separations, process dynamics, and process control
Develop steady-state and dynamic process models and use engineering analysis to guide system architecture, equipment selection, and operating strategy
Size and specify process equipment including pumps, compressors, blowers, heat exchangers, vessels, columns, piping systems, control valves, relief devices, and other unit operations
Lead process engineering through Front-End Loading (FEL) and progressively mature systems from conceptual design through process definition and engineering definition
Evaluate process alternatives and technical tradeoffs considering performance, safety, reliability, operability, maintainability, capital cost, and lifecycle cost
Develop equipment and package specifications, technically evaluate vendor proposals, and work directly with equipment suppliers and fabricators
Lead or contribute to process safety activities including HAZOPs, design reviews, relief and depressurization studies, consequence evaluations, and development of safeguards
Develop process control philosophies, operating sequences, alarm requirements, permissives, interlocks, and operating limits in collaboration with controls engineers and operators
Perform multidisciplinary technical reviews to ensure that systems are safe, operable, maintainable, and capable of achieving their intended process function
Support procurement, fabrication, construction, installation, inspection, and field engineering, including field walkdowns and resolution of design and construction issues
Develop commissioning plans, test procedures, operating procedures, and start-up strategies and participate directly in commissioning, start-up, performance testing, and operation of process systems
Troubleshoot operating equipment and processes using first-principles engineering, process data, field observations, and structured process investigations
Capture lessons learned from construction, commissioning, and operation and translate them into improvements in process safety, reliability, operability, maintainability, performance, engineering standards, and future designs
Provide technical leadership and mentor less-experienced engineers on complex process engineering problems

What we're looking for:

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering (or closely related discipline)
7+ years of relevant industrial process engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated depth of experience
Strong command of chemical engineering fundamentals including mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, phase equilibrium, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, transport phenomena, unit operations, and process dynamics and control
Experience designing process systems for large-scale industrial facilities
Demonstrated experience taking process systems through a structured FEL or equivalent stage-gated project development process, from concept and process definition through detailed engineering and execution
Experience with process scale-up, technology scale-up, or translating process requirements into commercial-scale equipment and facilities
Demonstrated experience developing core process engineering deliverables including process design bases, heat and material balances, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, datasheets, and process calculations
Experience sizing, specifying, and selecting industrial process equipment
Hands-on experience operating, commissioning, starting up, performance testing, and troubleshooting industrial process systems and physical equipment
Experience working directly with operators and technicians and using operating data and field observations to diagnose process performance
Experience with process simulation and analysis tools such as EcoSim, Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus, AVEVA Process Simulation, or equivalent
Experience with process safety and hazard analysis, including HAZOP or equivalent methodologies
Experience with relief system design and overpressure protection
Experience working with and integrating other engineering disciplines including mechanical, piping, instrumentation and controls, electrical, safety, operations, and construction
Experience working directly with equipment vendors, fabricators, EPC organizations, or construction contractors
Familiarity with applicable process industry codes and standards, including ASME B31.3 and ASME BPVC Section VIII
Ability to clearly express and critique technical ideas, assumptions, risks, and tradeoffs
Strong engineering judgment and the ability to recognize when analytical or simulation results do not make physical sense
Attention to detail with an emphasis on practical, elegant, and commercially viable engineering solutions
Values that align with our company’s values of integrity, execution, impact, and self-critique

Bonus points for:

Experience designing, commissioning, or operating large-scale cryogenic systems, particularly helium systems
Experience in power generation, petrochemical, LNG, industrial gases, chemical processing, nuclear, or other large-scale process facilities
Experience with steam systems, particularly steam generation, steam distribution, condensate, and balance-of-plant systems
Experience designing, commissioning, or operating molten salt systems
Experience designing, commissioning, or operating industrial vacuum or high-vacuum systems
Experience with industrial gas processing, purification, separation, or fueling systems
Experience with large-scale process utilities including cooling water, chilled water, compressed or instrument air, nitrogen, and other plant utility systems
Experience scaling first-of-a-kind technologies from pilot or demonstration scale to commercial operation
Experience with dynamic process simulation and control-system development
Experience with industrial automation
Licensed as a Professional Engineer

Must-have requirements:

Ability to lift up to 50 lbs occasionally
Perform activities such as stooping, climbing, typing, standing, and sitting for extended periods of time
Willingness to occasionally travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call, including occasional travel to suppliers, contractors, or operating facilities
Willingness and ability to work hands-on in industrial, construction, commissioning, and operating environments
Dedication to safety to mitigate hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead, high voltage, high current, pressure systems, vacuum systems, hazardous materials, and cryogenics

#LI-Onsite

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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