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Operations Manager, Gigasite Projects Team

Hawthorne

About Valar Atomics

Valar Atomics is building a fleet of advanced nuclear reactors at gigasites across the U.S. — starting with Ward in Utah, then replicating. We move at the pace defense-tech and aerospace move, not the pace nuclear has historically moved.

About the role

Valar's operating model is built for replication. The Gigasite Projects Team runs as a small, autonomous pod — owns the project from site identification through Final Investment Decision (FID), handing off to Delivery for construction and commissioning — and the operating system that runs Pod 1 has to run Pod 2 without re-inventing the wheel each time. The Operations Manager builds and maintains that operating system: the procedures, policies, and team-to-team interfaces that turn ad hoc work into repeatable practice. You'll write lightweight procedures that scale; where nuclear-grade rigor is required (Part 53, QA, ITAR), you'll harden specific procedures to that standard. You'll mesh pod policy with MSG (supply chain, real estate, BI, finance), Delivery (Gate-3 handoff), Engineering (ICDs, design freezes), and Licensing — and own the team-to-team handoffs that fall between the cracks today.

Key Responsibilities

  • Build the pod operating system from zero — observe ad hoc work, codify what's repeatable, resist premature standardization on what isn't.
  • Author lightweight procedures that scale, hardened to nuclear-grade (Part 53, QA, ITAR) where required, in partnership with Licensing and QA.
  • Mesh pod policy with MSG (supply chain, real estate, BI, finance), Delivery (Kip Mock org — Gate-3 handoff), Engineering (Mark Mitchell org — ICDs, design freezes), and Licensing.
  • Own team-to-team handoffs — Gate-3 to Delivery is currently informal and not yet written; this role drafts the spec.
  • Collate data across functions (Finance, Engineering, Licensing, MSG) for pod-level reporting; partner with MSG-OSE on data infrastructure as it builds out.
  • Version, change-manage, and retire procedures. Procedures that aren't being used get killed, not left to rot.

Basic Qualifications

  • 3–5 years total, with at least 2 years building operations at a real startup from zero or near-zero.
  • Strong technical writing — your procedures get executed without follow-up questions.
  • Comfort with ambiguity; bias toward action (v1 in a week, then iterate).
  • Judgment on when not to write a procedure — premature standardization is a real cost.
  • Experience with SharePoint, Office 365, Palantir Foundry, and Anthropic products (Claude, Claude Code).
  • U.S. person status (ITAR-gated).

Preferred Qualifications

  • Military operations officer background — Navy nuclear or Air Force maintenance officers translate strongly.
  • Experience with lightweight QMS / document control (Slab, Notion-based QMS, Greenlight Guru, or similar).
  • Exposure to regulated industries (FAA, FDA, aerospace, defense, nuclear) — rigor mindset is what we're looking for.
  • Familiarity with nuclear procedure conventions (10 CFR 50 App B, ASME NQA-1) — useful but trainable.

What We Offer  

  • Competitive base salary 
  • Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company 
  • Comprehensive medical benefits 
  • Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite 
  • High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy 
  • Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement 
  • Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders 
  • The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Valar Atomics is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).

Salary

$100,000 - $160,000 USD

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