IFE Program Director

Key responsibilities

• Oversee and accountable for the design, planning, and execution strategy of a large-scale, billion-dollar class program, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.

• Provide day-to-day leadership to matrixed engineering, science and operations teams, maintaining technical integrity and quality standards.

• Lead IFE system architecture, from early-stage concept development through engineering design, technology maturation, construction readiness, commissioning, and operational demonstration.

• Manage project budgets, resource allocation, and schedules, implementing proactive risk mitigation and reporting on performance metrics.

• Collaborate with senior leadership and stakeholders, communicating program status, risks, critical path activities, key dependencies, and opportunities for continuous improvement.

• Lead resolution of cross-disciplinary technical issues and trade-offs involving performance, cost, reliability, maintainability, safety, and schedule.

• Ensure that design assumptions, technology development activities, and engineering analyses are consistent across the program.

• Work with element leads and technical authorities to establish appropriate design maturity, validation requirements, and evidence-based readiness assessments.

• Establish effective program governance, reporting, configuration management, change control, and decision-making processes.

• Ensure that near-term technical and engineering decisions support the long-term commercial deployment strategy.

Qualifications And Requirements

• Education: MS in physics, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering or related technical field.

• Experience: 15+ years leading large, complex programs (billion-dollar scale preferred) within an engineering-intensive environment (semiconductor, laser, nuclear, space and defense, etc.).

• Proven track record of guiding large-scale technical teams through all phases of technical program delivery.

• Demonstrated success translating technical objectives into integrated program plans with measurable milestones, budgets, schedules, and accountable owners.

• Experience coordinating multiple technical disciplines and managing complex system interfaces and dependencies.

• Strong understanding of systems engineering, technology maturation, technical risk management, and engineering design reviews.

• Experience managing program budgets, resource allocation, external contracts, and executive-level reporting.

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.

• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Desired:

• Ph.D. in a relevant engineering field.

• Experience in fusion energy development, nuclear technology, advanced energy systems, or another highly complex, capital-intensive technology program.

• Experience with pilot plants, first-of-a-kind facilities, prototype systems, or integrated technology demonstrations.

• Familiarity with fusion plant architectures, including major subsystems such as the laser driver, targets, chamber, and fusion fuel cycle.

• Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks for high-value engineering projects.

• Education: MS in physics, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering or related technical field.

• Experience: 15+ years leading large, complex programs (billion-dollar scale preferred) within an engineering-intensive environment (semiconductor, laser, nuclear, space and defense, etc.).

• Proven track record of guiding large-scale technical teams through all phases of technical program delivery.

• Demonstrated success translating technical objectives into integrated program plans with measurable milestones, budgets, schedules, and accountable owners.

• Experience coordinating multiple technical disciplines and managing complex system interfaces and dependencies.

• Strong understanding of systems engineering, technology maturation, technical risk management, and engineering design reviews.

• Experience managing program budgets, resource allocation, external contracts, and executive-level reporting.

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.

• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum