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Operations Engineer, Salt Production Facility

Albuquerque, NM

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 highly motivated Operations Engineer to support plant design, construction, commissioning, startup, and routine operation. The Operations Engineer will own the technical basis and performance of assigned process systems as they move from design into operation. This includes understanding system design, equipment, chemistry, controls, safeguards, operating limits, and failure modes. Working with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Commissioning, and Process Safety, the engineer will solve technical problems, improve system performance, and translate engineering requirements into practical operating limits, procedures, training, and field practices.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the technical owner for assigned process systems from design completion through commissioning, startup, and routine operation.
  • Maintain the engineering basis for system design, operating limits, equipment performance, chemistry, controls, safeguards, and response to failures.
  • Review designs and field changes for safety, performance, operability, maintainability, human factors, and alignment with design intent.
  • Perform process, hydraulic, and pneumatic calculations to predict system performance and define equipment limits using tools such as AFT Fathom and AFT Arrow.
  • Analyze plant data, monitor system performance and reliability, and troubleshoot process, equipment, instrumentation, and control issues.
  • Develop and implement engineered improvements to safety, reliability, throughput, quality, operability, and cost.
  • Support chemical and raw-material specifications, vendor selection, first-fill planning, and material acceptance requirements.
  • Develop or review commissioning, startup, performance testing, and equipment acceptance plans, including factory and site acceptance testing.
  • Support field walk-downs, equipment acceptance, punch-list resolution, system turnover, pre-startup safety reviews, and startup issue resolution.
  • Support process safety activities, including hazard analyses, Management of Change, incident investigations, root-cause analyses, and corrective actions.
  • Develop or review alarm rationalization, control narratives, interlock requirements, operating limits, monitoring requirements, and operator responses.
  • Translate engineering requirements into procedures, training, logs, rounds, checklists, and other tools needed for safe and reliable operation.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

  • B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
  • 3+ years of relevant engineering experience in a chemical processing, power generation, manufacturing, nuclear, or similar industrial environment.
  • Experience applying engineering fundamentals to process systems, equipment performance, troubleshooting, or plant improvements.
  • Experience reading and working from P&IDs, equipment data sheets, engineering calculations, control narratives, and vendor technical information.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical information to both engineering and operations personnel.
  • Ability to work safely and effectively in an industrial plant environment.
  • Experience supporting the design, construction, commissioning, startup, or operation of chemical process systems is preferred.
  • Experience working with Process Safety Management requirements, process hazard analyses, pre-startup safety reviews, or Management of Change is preferred.
  • Experience performing hydraulic or pneumatic system analysis using AFT Fathom, AFT Arrow, or similar engineering software is preferred.
  • Experience troubleshooting process equipment, instrumentation, controls, alarms, or interlocks is preferred.
  • Experience developing engineering inputs for operating procedures, training, system testing, or equipment acceptance is preferred.
  • Experience with chemical specifications, vendor evaluations, material acceptance, or first-fill planning is preferred.
  • Experience leading technical improvements, root-cause investigations, or corrective actions is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

  • Working knowledge of process systems, fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, equipment performance, instrumentation, and process controls.
  • Ability to analyze plant data, identify performance problems, determine causes, and develop practical engineering solutions.
  • Ability to understand system interactions, operating limits, safeguards, and potential failure modes.
  • Skill in preparing clear calculations, technical evaluations, test plans, procedures, and other engineering documents.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities and carry technical work from problem definition through implementation.
  • Ability to work collaboratively across Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Commissioning, and Process Safety.
  • Ability to make sound technical decisions with incomplete information and raise issues when additional review is needed.
  • Strong commitment to safety, quality, attention to detail, and continuous improvement.
  • Ability to collect, organize, maintain, and transfer technical knowledge.
  • Ability to work with highly collaborative team.
  • Ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently.
  • Prioritizes and ensures safety of one self 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
  • Moving about to accomplish tasks or moving from one worksite to another
  • Adjusting, moving, transporting, installing, positioning, or removing objects up to 50 pounds in all directions
  • Communicating with others to exchange information 

Environmental Conditions

  • General office environment
  • Low temperatures
  • High temperatures
  • Outdoor environment or elements such as precipitation and wind
  • Noisy environments
  • Elevated heights
  • Assessing the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of the work assigned
  • Manufacturing/Industrial Environments

Safety and PPE

  • Reading and interpreting hazardous warning signs
  • Reporting issues with equipment or unsafe conditions
  • Color identification: detecting, distinguishing, recognizing and identifying colors
  • Wearing proper PPE, to include face mask, face shields, gloves, safety shoes, etc.

Travel 

  • Some travel may be required (up to 20%)  

Additional Requirements

  • Requires occasionally working weekends 
  • Requires occasionally schedule flexibility 
  • Requires occasionally extended hours to support launch and critical project timelines

#LI-Onsite

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.

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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

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