Director, Nuclear Instrumentation & Electronics

Location: Torrance, California, United States; onsite role. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Salary: $225,000–$300,000 USD per year, plus equity.

Company

hirify.global develops scalable high-temperature nuclear power systems, with a pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah focused on advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication.

What you will do

• Build and lead the Nuclear Instrumentation & Electronics organization, including hiring, organizational design, engineering, testing, manufacturing, budget, headcount, and capital equipment planning.
• Own the product roadmap, make-versus-buy decisions, platform strategy, and cost, volume, and schedule targets for reactor production.
• Lead the design of neutron flux detectors, radiation monitors, signal-processing electronics, FPGA and embedded firmware, and interfaces with reactor protection and control systems.
• Lead environmental, seismic, EMI/RFI, radiation, and thermal qualification programs and ensure compliance with nuclear safety-system standards.
• Stand up manufacturing operations, production lines, cleanroom and contamination-controlled areas, test fixtures, automated test equipment, yield management, capacity planning, and controlled production documentation.
• Own nuclear quality, supplier and supply-chain strategy, licensing and regulatory interactions, field support, failure analysis, corrective actions, and reliability feedback.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Engineering Physics, or a related discipline.
• 12+ years of experience in radiation detection, nuclear instrumentation, or high-reliability electronics design and manufacturing, including 5+ years leading engineering or product teams.
• Deep technical knowledge of radiation detection physics and detector design, including neutron detection, gamma discrimination, and detector behavior in high-radiation and high-temperature environments.
• Hands-on experience with analog and mixed-signal electronics for low-level signal measurement, including noise, grounding, shielding, and signal integrity in long cable runs.
• Experience taking hardware products from design through qualification and production, including design for manufacturability, design for test, production testing, and yield improvement.
• Experience operating under a formal quality program in nuclear, aerospace, defense, medical device, or a comparably regulated industry.
• Working knowledge of IEEE 323, IEEE 344, IEEE 603, and Reg Guide 1.180.
• Ability to build teams from the ground up, hire and develop engineers, and deliver on aggressive schedules.
• Eligibility to access technology controlled under U.S. export control regulations, including 10 CFR Part 810.

Nice to have

• Master’s or PhD in Nuclear Engineering, Physics, or Electrical Engineering focused on radiation detection or instrumentation.
• Professional Engineer license or eligibility.
• Experience designing or manufacturing fission chambers, ion chambers, self-powered neutron detectors, or radiation monitors at a nuclear instrumentation vendor, national laboratory, or reactor developer.
• Experience with nuclear safety-related hardware under 10 CFR 50 Appendix B and NQA-1, commercial grade dedication, and 10 CFR Part 21 programs.
• Experience with FPGA-based or digital signal processing for nuclear instrumentation, including firmware verification and validation for safety-related applications.
• Experience with NRC or Agreement State materials licensing for special nuclear material or byproduct material.
• Experience scaling hardware manufacturing in a startup or rapid-growth environment and establishing production facilities.
• Familiarity with HTGR and advanced reactor instrumentation challenges, including high-temperature, helium-environment, and graphite-moderated core applications.
• Experience with IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, and radiation-tolerant component selection.

Culture & Benefits

• High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy.
• Competitive base salary, equity ownership, and comprehensive medical benefits.
• Unlimited PTO and opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement.
• Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite, plus a generous PPE stipend.
• Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders.