Lead Mechanical Engineer

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised over $600 million from investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group to propel us forward. Our last prototype, Trenta, completed 10,000 high-power pulses and reached plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV).

Now we are working toward Polaris, which will be the first machine to demonstrate electricity from fusion, making this a great time to join Helion! Bring your skills, experiences, and determination to make a difference in the world. Together, we can make a future with unlimited clean electricity from fusion a reality.

What You Will Be Doing

We are hiring a Lead Mechanical Engineer to own hardware designs for Helion’s fusion generator prototypes. You will solve diverse problems that have a massive impact on the performance of Helion’s generators while hiring and mentoring engineers and establishing design processes to increase Helion’s pace of innovation. You will report directly to our Senior Manager of Engineering at our Everett, WA office.

You Will

You will set the standard for how fast Helion designs and builds hardware; ultimately delivering clean, low-cost, reliable electricity to the world. Your main responsibility will be creating a world-class engineering team, providing mentorship, modeling technical best practices, and continually raising the bar.

• Grow and mentor a team of exceptional and multidisciplinary mechanical engineers
• Oversee design of machine architecture, high-performance magnets, support structures
• Supervise the design of fuel systems, thermal management systems, and vacuum systems
• Drive schedule ownership and optimization by team members to accelerate milestones
• Drive design, analysis, and manufacturing process improvements to increase throughput

Required Skills

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, with a minimum of 5 years of engineering experience and 2 years of project management experience
• Demonstrated ability to grow engineers, engineering leaders, and meaningfully impact the career progression of direct reports
• Experience in working with and leading (directly or indirectly) multidisciplinary teams
• Experience managing complex engineering projects (including schedule ownership)
• Hands-on exposure to a variety of engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, fluids)
• Ability to apply both engineering first-principles and methodical thinking to challenging problems

Compensation and Benefits

At Helion, we are committed to fostering a fair and equitable environment in every aspect of our operations, including compensation. We ensure all our roles are competitively benchmarked and our total compensation package includes a base salary, comprehensive benefits, and equity grants, giving you a true stake in Helion's success. Final compensation is determined through a holistic evaluation of your experience, qualifications, and our commitment to maintaining internal equity, ensuring fairness and transparency across our teams.

This is an exempt salaried role.

Annual Base Bay

$152,000 - $179,000 USD

Benefits

Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
• 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
• 13 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
• Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
• Annual wellness stipend

NOTE: Underrepresented people are less likely to apply unless they meet 100% of the job's requirements. We believe in hiring people, not checklists, and encourage you to apply even if you do not check all of the boxes. If this job isn't the one, we have many other openings that may be a fit.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. If we reach out to you to begin an interview process, we will also ask if you require any reasonable accommodation at that time.