Staff Scientist - Plasma Material Interaction

Location: Devens, Massachusetts, United States; on-site

Company

hirify.global develops fusion power systems, including the SPARC tokamak and ARC fusion power plant.

What you will do

• Build computational workflows to predict plasma-facing component material degradation under plasma loading and neutron irradiation.
• Run predictive models to support ARC component shaping, material lifetime estimates, and overload analysis.
• Conduct plasma-material interaction, heat-load, and neutron-irradiation tests at experimental facilities worldwide.
• Benchmark predictive models using deuterium-tritium data from the SPARC tokamak.
• Develop interpretive models for inferring plasma-facing component material states from power-plant diagnostics.
• Coordinate technical work across plasma physics, materials science, and nuclear engineering, including collaborations with universities, national laboratories, and private companies.

Requirements

• PhD or equivalent in plasma physics, materials science, nuclear engineering, or a related field, with research experience in plasma-material interactions.
• Knowledge of plasma-material interactions in magnetically confined plasmas and multiscale material evolution under plasma or neutron loading.
• Experience with at least two relevant computational methods, including ion energy-angle distributions, binary collision approximation, cluster dynamics or rate theory, and finite-element analysis.
• Experience designing and executing plasma-material exposure or high-heat-flux test campaigns.
• Experience with Python, C++, version control such as Git, and HPC environments using Slurm, AWS, or equivalent tools.
• Must be able to work on-site in Devens, Massachusetts, perform extended standing, sitting, and typing activities, and work occasionally at night, on weekends, or on call.

Nice to have

• Experience with PMI-specific, boundary-plasma, edge-transport, neutron-irradiation, materials-characterization, or coupled multi-code workflows.
• Knowledge of tungsten metallurgy, irradiation damage metrics, and degradation mechanisms caused by plasma and neutron exposure.
• Experience containerizing codes with Docker or Apptainer.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive compensation with equity.
• Company-wide holidays, flexible vacation days, sick days, and parental leave.
• Health, dental, vision, and 401(k) benefits with employer matching.
• Professional growth opportunities and team-building activities.
• Work involves industrial hazards including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead, high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics.
• Employment is subject to compliance with U.S. Export Control Laws governing controlled or protected technologies and information.