Manufacturing Engineer (Nuclear Reactors)

Location: Los Angeles, USA; on-site assembly work at hirify.global Prime. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or eligible to obtain the required U.S. Department of State authorizations under U.S. Government export regulations.

Salary: $140,000–$225,000 per year, depending on level; Senior Manufacturing Engineer: $140,000–$190,000, Staff Manufacturing Engineer: $170,000–$225,000. Equity is offered.

Company

hirify.global is a Series C startup developing mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable nuclear microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications.

What you will do

• Lead manufacturing process development for major reactor assemblies and subsystems from engineering release through build, inspection, testing, and final integration.
• Create assembly and manufacturing process flows, shop-floor layouts, manufacturing bills of material, process plans, work instructions, and configuration-controlled documentation.
• Partner with mechanical, electrical, nuclear, systems, materials, quality, test, supply chain, and operations teams to ensure designs are manufacturable, inspectable, and testable.
• Develop tooling, fixtures, handling equipment, and specialized manufacturing equipment for reactor hardware.
• Execute development builds, troubleshoot issues with technicians and operators, and drive root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and process improvements.
• Participate in manufacturing, design, production readiness, and hardware build reviews; mentor junior and mid-level manufacturing engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Aerospace, Nuclear, or a related engineering discipline.
• At least 2 years of experience developing and implementing manufacturing processes for complex hardware; experience taking hardware from engineering design through prototype, development, qualification, and production.
• Extensive experience creating work instructions, process specifications, assembly procedures, inspection plans, and test procedures.
• Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, engineering drawings, configuration management, and DFM/DFA principles.
• Experience developing or implementing manufacturing tooling, fixtures, and specialized equipment.
• Experience working directly with technicians, machinists, fabricators, inspectors, and production personnel, including troubleshooting manufacturing problems on the production floor.
• Ability to work across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, test, and operations organizations; communicate technical information clearly and document complex processes.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, highly technical, ambiguous environment with exceptional attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ownership of large, technically complex projects with significant cross-functional impact.

Nice to have

• 5+ years of experience developing and implementing manufacturing processes for complex hardware.
• Experience with aerospace or nuclear reactor components, pressure vessels, primary or secondary systems, fuel systems, thermal systems, or reactor instrumentation and controls.
• Experience with nuclear quality assurance or other rigorous quality and regulatory frameworks, including working knowledge of ASME Section III, NQA-1, or comparable requirements.
• Experience with process qualification and validation for special processes.
• Experience with PFMEA, process capability studies, statistical process control, value-stream mapping, and capacity analysis.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes for safety-significant or safety-critical hardware and transitioning low-volume prototypes into repeatable production.
• Familiarity with manufacturing execution systems, ERP/MRP systems, PLM systems, and digital work-instruction platforms.
• Experience in environments requiring configuration control, traceability, material control, and process documentation for product acceptance.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with a significant stock option package.
• Work on advanced nuclear energy systems intended for terrestrial, underwater, and space use.
• Values include systems thinking, end-user focus, challenging convention, going where the work is, and operating in ambiguity.
• Teams aim to maximize in-person collaboration, while deep work can be performed remotely when appropriate.
• Equal opportunity employment based on merit, competence, and qualifications.