Senior Mechanical Engineer (Nuclear)

Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. The position is based at a facility subject to U.S. Department of Energy Part 810 export-control requirements and requires authorization to access controlled information. Some travel may be required, up to 25%.

Company

hirify.global Power develops fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology for clean energy generation.

What you will do

• Develop modular maintenance systems and remote-handling hardware for component repair, replacement, inspection, and long-term operability.
• Design, build, and evaluate 1:1 scale mockups, prototypes, and integration test articles.
• Validate interfaces, clearances, tolerances, tooling alignment, ergonomics, reach, and handling sequences through physical demonstrations.
• Create test plans, acceptance criteria, execution plans, and configuration-controlled engineering documentation.
• Coordinate test readiness reviews, inspections, installations, shakedown, tuning, and commissioning with engineering, QA, systems, laboratory, shop, and materials teams.
• Assess risks and reliability, incorporate demonstration results into designs, and contribute to design-basis documentation and regulatory submittals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• 8+ years of experience developing hardware for demanding applications.
• Demonstrated experience with full-scale prototypes, physical integration, hardware demonstrations, and rapid design-build-test cycles.
• Strong hands-on mechanical aptitude in laboratory and shop environments, including knowledge of pressure and fluid systems and high-temperature systems.
• Experience with low-voltage systems, optical systems, compact packaging, servos, motors, electromagnets, or related power electronics.
• Authorization to access U.S. Department of Energy Part 810-controlled information is required for work in the facility.

Nice to have

• Experience integrating mechanical and electrical systems for remote operation.
• Background in nuclear, aerospace, defense, or other regulated industries.
• Molten salt or advanced reactor experience.
• Working knowledge of ASME codes and piping standards.
• Experience with LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python, radiation effects, material degradation, non-destructive inspection, or mentoring junior engineers.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with medical, dental, and vision benefits for employees and dependents.
• Paid vacation.
• 401(k) and pre-tax health insurance, dependent care, and commuter benefits through an FSA.
• Safety-focused work in a demanding, fast-paced, highly regulated environment with required PPE and hazardous-material procedures.
• Occasional schedule flexibility and extended hours may be required for launches and critical project timelines.