Director Instrumentation, Control, and Electrical – Power Conversion

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 Role Our HTGR power conversion system will be built around a secondary loop Brayton cycle, high-speed turbomachinery operating on helium, sCO2, and even air at extreme temperatures and pressures, paired with development generator sets and a purpose-built test facility program.

The Director of IC&E for Power Conversion owns the full instrumentation, control, and electrical architecture across this system: from early R&D and rig design through test facility construction, commissioning, and ultimately integrated plant operation. This role demands someone who can operate at two levels simultaneously with a hands-on technical authority who understands turbomachinery dynamics, high-speed generator control, and test system instrumentation at a deep level, and a team leader who builds and develops the IC&E organization around the power conversion program. Candidates from oil & gas, aerospace propulsion, industrial turbomachinery, or power generation are strongly preferred.

Nuclear background is a plus, not a prerequisite.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership — Turbomachinery & Power Conversion Own the IC&E design basis for the primary to secondary coolant loop Brayton cycle power conversion unit (PCU), including compressor, turbine, recuperator, and intercooler control systems Define instrumentation strategy for high-speed rotating machinery — shaft dynamics, vibration monitoring, tip clearance, temperature, pressure, and flow measurement in helium environments Develop control system architecture for turbomachinery startup, shutdown, load following, trip logic, and speed/load governing Lead IC&E design for development generator sets — excitation systems, voltage regulation, synchronization, protection relays, and grid interface or islanded operation schemes Establish electrical power distribution design for the power conversion facility: MV/LV switchgear, variable frequency drives (VFDs), power electronics, and auxiliary systems Test Facility Design, Construction & Commissioning Lead IC&E scope for the design and construction of turbomachinery development and test facilities — from instrumentation layout and data acquisition architecture through facility electrical design Own IC&E commissioning planning and execution Establish instrumentation calibration programs, measurement uncertainty budgets, and data quality standards for development testing Program & Team Leadership Build, lead, and mentor the power conversion IC&E engineering team across disciplines, controls, instrumentation, electrical, and data systems Define team structure, staffing plans, and competency roadmap as the program scales from R&D through construction and commissioning phases Manage IC&E scope, schedule, and budget within the broader power conversion program Select and manage IC&E vendors, system integrators, and instrumentation suppliers; define qualification, calibration, and acceptance

Requirements

Collaborate closely with turbomachinery, mechanical, thermal-hydraulics, systems engineering, and the reactor IC&E team to ensure integrated plant control architecture is coherent across the PCU–reactor interface Phase Continuity Carry IC&E ownership across all power conversion program phases: conceptual design → detailed engineering → test facility procurement and construction → commissioning and integrated testing → reactor plant int