Senior/Principal Finite Element Analyst - Thermomechanical & Structural Mechanics

Location: On-site in Austin, Texas; must be based in the United States

Company

hirify.global Atomics develops factory-fabricated sodium-cooled microreactors for scalable, reliable nuclear power.

What you will do

• Develop, execute, maintain, and verify finite element models for reactor components, structures, and mechanical systems under coupled thermal and mechanical loading.
• Perform linear and nonlinear structural, thermal stress, fatigue, buckling, modal, dynamic, and seismic response analyses.
• Evaluate high-temperature, pressure-retaining, and safety-critical components against nuclear design codes, including ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III.
• Analyze thermal gradients, pressure and restraint loads, seismic loads, radiation effects, operating transients, off-normal events, fluid-structure interaction, flow-induced vibration, and thermal striping.
• Translate analysis results into design recommendations, safety margins, test requirements, and engineering tradeoffs in collaboration with design, thermal-hydraulics, nuclear, materials, manufacturing, and licensing teams.
• Prepare technical reports and controlled calculation packages, establish analysis standards and verification practices, and mentor engineers and analysts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Nuclear, Civil/Structural, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of professional finite element analysis experience in nuclear, aerospace, energy, pressure systems, defense, or another high-consequence engineering environment.
• Deep knowledge of structural mechanics, thermomechanics, heat transfer, stress analysis, and finite element methods.
• Strong experience with NASTRAN and with defining load cases, boundary conditions, interfaces, mesh strategies, convergence checks, and model verification approaches.
• Experience evaluating pressure-retaining components, reactor internals, piping, support structures, heat exchangers, high-temperature equipment, or similar safety-critical hardware.
• Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Persons and may not hold non-compliant foreign citizenships under 10 CFR Part 810.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree and experience with nuclear reactor systems, sodium-cooled or advanced reactors, reactor internals, or nuclear-grade mechanical systems.
• Experience with fluid-structure interaction, coupled thermal-hydraulic/structural analysis, irradiation effects, high-temperature design, fracture mechanics, creep-fatigue, ratcheting, or shakedown.
• Experience supporting DOE, NRC, national laboratory, or nuclear licensing projects, including NQA-1 and configuration-controlled workflows.
• Experience with Abaqus, ANSYS Mechanical, LS-DYNA, COMSOL, Femap, HyperMesh, Simcenter 3D, or analysis automation using AI, Python, or MATLAB.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative and supportive engineering environment.
• Professional growth and intellectually challenging work in advanced nuclear energy.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Paid time off and corporate gym membership.