Back to jobs

Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering Design

Alameda, CA, Albuquerque, NM, or Remote in US

Company Overview

Kairos Power is a new nuclear energy technology and engineering company whose mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy, with the ultimate goal to dramatically improve people’s quality of life while protecting the environment. This goal will be accomplished through the commercialization of the fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (FHR) that can be deployed with robust safety, affordable costs, and flexible operation to accommodate the expansion of variable renewables.

Job Summary

Kairos Power is seeking a Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering Design with deep expertise in mechanical design and proven ability to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams. Reporting to the Senior Director of Engineering Integration, you will play a pivotal role in translating strategic direction into integrated programs and organizational practices, ensuring that multidisciplinary teams deliver at scale with consistency, quality, and efficiency. 

As a Senior Manager, you will lead the mechanical engineering design team while partnering closely with the ASME pressure vessel design team – ensuring seamless integration across disciples. You will be accountable for driving program execution, building organizational capability, and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and safety. 

Responsibilities:

  • Drive execution of strategic direction through integrated engineering roadmaps, programs, and workflows; oversee execution across multiple complex design projects with a focus on consistency, quality, and delivery.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop managers and technical leads, ensuring that multidisciplinary teams are aligned, resourced, and performing at a high level while actively promoting Kairos Power’s engineering values and culture.   
  • Establish and enforce mechanical engineering standards, tools, and processes to ensure reliable, scalable, and efficient execution across all projects.
  • Identify and address program-level risks, conflicts, and bottlenecks early; resolve execution challenges and provide actionable insights to leadership for strategic decisions. 
  • Build organizational capability by growing engineering talent; coach managers to strengthen leadership depth within the organization. 
  • Champion continuous improvement, adoption of advanced design tools, and process innovations that enhance efficiency and technical quality. 
  • Provide leadership with data-driven recommendations on program performance, resource needs, and prioritization tradeoffs to support strategic decision-making. 
  • Provide design leadership across mechanical development activities, ensuring alignment with system requirements, performance goals and integration milestones.
  • Oversee the creation of detailed design deliverables and drawing packages, ensuring accuracy, manufacturability, and alignment with system-level objectives.
  • Establish and maintain robust CAD standards, design workflows, and review processes to ensure consistency, traceability, and efficiency across projects and teams.
  • Coordinate mechanical design efforts across engineering teams and external stakeholders, serving as a key liaison with ASME pressure vessel group.
  • Perform additional responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

  • Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in either mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, or related discipline. Master’s degree or PE license preferred. 
  • 12+ years of experience in mechanical design, including significant involvement with ASME pressure vessel design. 
  • 7+ years of engineering leadership experience, including managing managers and scaling multidisciplinary engineering organizations. 
  • Demonstrated success delivering mechanical designs from concept through to fabrication and testing.  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

  • Strong knowledge of ASME Section VIII, B31.3, and related design and pressure vessel codes 
  • Familiarity with ASME BPVC Sec III, Sec VIII, ASME B31.1 and B31.3 piping codes is highly desired
  • Proficiency with 3D CAD tools such as SolidWorks, Inventor, AutoCAD Mechanical, and pressure vessel design tools such as COMPRESS, PV Elite
  • Experience in design and analysis of pressure components and piping in industries such as nuclear, oil & gas, or petrochemical
  • Strong understanding of manufacturing methods, welding, and materials selection for high-temperature and high-integrity systems 
  • Ability to lead managers and senior engineers; develop talent pipelines; foster a culture of accountability and collaboration  
  • Skilled at translating complex technical challenges into actional engineering workstreams
  • Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with minimal supervision and priorities
  • Excellent collaboration and communication skills with proven ability to build cross-functional relationships and communicate effectively with technicians, engineers, manufacturing, and operations teams
  • Ability to structure and oversee large, Skilled at translating complex technical challenges
  • Executive presence; strong verbal, written, and presentation abilities; capable of conveying complex technical concepts to executives, peers, and external stakeholders. 
  • A team-oriented mindset with strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication abilities
  • Experience working with high temperature molten salt or other advanced high temperature fluid systems is a plus
  • Ability to work with highly collaborative team
  • Ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently
  • Prioritizes and ensures safety of oneself and others
  • Ability to proactively collect, manage and transfer knowledge
  • Ability to seek different and novel ways to create efficiencies when working on problems, challenges and issues

Physical Demands

  • Remaining in a stationary position, often standing, or sitting for prolonged periods

Environmental Conditions

  • General office environment
  • Assessing the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of the work assigned
  • High-concentration, demanding and fast-paced

Safety and PPE

  • Reading and interpreting hazardous warning signs
  • Reporting issues with equipment or unsafe conditions
  • Wearing proper PPE, to include face mask, face shields, gloves, safety shoes, etc.

Travel 

  • Some travel may be required, up to 20%

The salary range for this position is $201,300 to $251,600 for employees working onsite at our Alameda, CA headquarters. The range provided in this job posting represents the typical range or starting rate of candidates hired in California. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include your education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, the market data for your work location, and a comparison to other employees already in the role.

#LI-Remote

 

About our Benefits

We know that we have some of the most talented and dedicated employees, and we believe in rewarding them accordingly. If you work here, full-time employees (excludes interns) expect to have access to the benefits below:

  • Competitive compensation packages
  • Medical, dental and vision benefits for employees and their dependents
  • Paid Vacation
  • 401(k) and pre-tax health insurance, dependent care, and commuter benefits (FSA)

Kairos Power is committed to building a diverse workforce that reflects the communities where we do business. Kairos Power is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We actively welcome people of different experiences, abilities, and perspectives.

Kairos Power participates in E-Verify.

Candidates only, no recruiters or agencies please.

Note: You are applying for a position that is located in a facility that handles information that is subject to export control restrictions by the Department of Energy under 10 CFR Part 810. To work in this facility, you need to be authorized by the Department of Energy to access Part 810-controlled information. Foreign nationals who are citizens of countries that are not on the Department of Energy’s general authorization list (link below) are not permitted to work in our facility unless the Department of Energy issues an export control license to the company to permit that individual to have access to Part 810-controlled information. The following questions are intended to determine the licensing requirements that may apply. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/10/appendix-A_to_part_810

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...
Select...

Please provide contact information of 3 professional references. Include at minimum 1 direct supervisor or manager.

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Kairos Power’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.