X-energy · 2 months ago
Senior Technical Fellow, Chief Engineer
Rockville, MD
Full-time
Hybrid
Lead/Staff
$208K/yr - $347K/yr
20+ years expX-energy is a leader in nuclear engineering solutions, seeking a Senior Technical Fellow, Chief Engineer to ensure the implementation of their reactors complies with engineering standards and practices. The role involves acting as a design authority, leading design issue resolutions, and ensuring project compliance through various reviews and audits.
Clean EnergyCleanTechEnergyNuclearRenewable Energy
Responsibilities
Working with Program Management, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Procurement/Supply Chain (PSC), and Engineering, lead and/or support resolution of supply chain issues, including the manufacturing of unique or difficult-to-procure SSCs or extremely long-lead items
Evaluate alternative suppliers, critique manufacturing techniques and/or recommended manufacturer/ supplier expansion strategies to improve project delivery schedules are achievable and low risk
As the program/project Solution Architect, monitor, analyze, validate, and confirm that the plant architecture, technical solutions, and implementation plans developed by the X-energy’s program teams, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other departments are consistent with sound nuclear engineering practice, are efficient, deliver manufacturable, constructable, operable, and maintainable systems, and achieve project goals and requirements. This is performed through design reviews, audits, tiger teams, inspections, independent analyses, and other means
As Design Authority, ensure technical adequacy and design control for the project. This includes critiquing and reviewing requirements, technical arbitration for engineering disputes, implementing and maintaining configuration control, and concurrence of high-level methodology
Chair design reviews, ensure proper implementation of the X-energy Systems Engineering Management Plan and related engineering policies/procedures, evaluate engineered solutions against 1) requirements allocated to the solution, 2) fidelity of the solution and methods applied, and 3) maturity of the solution given the phase/review being performed. Build the review board composition based on system under review, make recommendations and define corrective actions through issuance of Action Items/Requests for Action (RFAs) to ensure project technical compliance. Validate RFA acceptance, response schedule, and validate incorporation of review board recommendations
Assist in the conduct of the project Change Control Board (CCB). Evaluate recommended changes, determine and/or independently analyze their impacts on performance and performance margin, soundness of design change, how changes affect project risk. As a precursor to the CCB, conduct evaluation of, or review team evaluations of alternatives to understand the basis for alternative selection, and how the result may compare to the results from alternative methods
Provide Internal Audit capability for the guarantee of configuration control, methodology and technical solution validity as well as scope, schedule, and budget alignment. Support external audits, from a technical/QA/manufacturability/testability perspective, to ensure vendors and partners possess the capability to perform assigned work and meet quality flow-downs
Identify technical and/or implementation issues that may threaten X-energy’s ability to deliver safe, efficient, manufacturable, constructable, operable, and maintainable project solutions. As appropriate, evaluate risks associated with alternatives; conduct independent analyses to scope, understand, and resolve risks; identify verification methods and recommend alternative techniques/solutions and mock-up development for project incorporation
As directed, lead critical issue initiatives, tiger/high impact teams, and conduct alternatives assessments to ensure project risk is quantified, addressed, and mitigated. This may include leadership of key evaluations that cannot be addressed by a standalone X-energy organization (e.g., cross-functional, multi-disciplinary design issue) or must be addressed at a higher level of the organization. Drive these evaluation teams to successful issue resolution; document issue resolution through DITs, input to topical reports; define qualification/penalty tests; ensure changes are documented through the change control process
In support of construction, SSCs under test, or operational systems, lead problem diagnosis and failure analysis; recommend corrective actions and resolution for customers on an as called upon basis for field changes or corrective maintenance. For time-sensitive or critical system builds and/or operations, lead ad-hoc teams to evaluate I&C telemetry data, inspection data, or test failures/non-conformances to determine cause(s) of performance/ operability defects; devise and recommend tests and inspections to verify the veracity of assessments; develop corrective actions, installation/replacement methods/techniques, and penalty/regression tests to verify post-rework quality and performance. Monitor development of non-conformance reports, corrective actions, test reports, and variations to operational procedures based on corrective action implementation
Reports directly to VP of Engineering
Maintain professional demeanor and behavior at all times in all forms of communication
Perform other duties as necessary
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or related technical discipline from an accredited college or university
Typically, twenty plus years' experience in engineering or related industry experience, including at least ten years' experience in end-to-end development of complex nuclear-related components and systems
Preferred
MS or PhD preferred
Benefits
401K plan with an employer match
Medical/Dental /Vision Insurance
Life and Disability Insurance
Paid Time Off
Tuition Reimbursement/Professional Development policy
Company
X-energy
X-energy is a nuclear energy company that develops small modular nuclear reactors and nuclear fuels for clean energy generation.
501-1000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
X-energy has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)
2024 (1)
2022 (2)
2020 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$1.71BKey Investors
Jane Street CapitalPittco ManagementDepartment for Energy Security & Net Zero
2025-11-24Series D· $700M
2025-03-05Private Equity· $22.8M
2024-10-16Series C· $700M
Leadership Team
J. Clay Sell
Chief Executive Officer
Robert Taylor
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Licensing
Recent News
2026-01-06
Crunchbase News
2025-12-17
Company data provided by crunchbase