We are at a historic moment, on the cusp of proving the commercial viability of fusion power. This role will play a critical part in taking the next step by managing the permitting process for the world's first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant and laying the groundwork for many subsequent deployments. As the Project Manager, you will support end-to-end siting, regulatory engagements, permitting strategies, and application processes across local, state, and federal levels. Operating within the Project Development team, you will secure vital environmental permits, utility approvals, and land-use authorizations to ensure project milestones are achieved safely, compliantly, and on schedule.
What you'll do:
- Perform comprehensive fatal flaw analyses and leverage GIS tools to evaluate potential project locations, assessing topography, generation and water availability, environmental constraints, and overall site viability
- Working with Government Affairs, evaluate local land-use policies, zoning regulations, and tax structures to determine optimal development strategies and prioritize jurisdictions with supportive regulatory environments for novel energy facilities
- Support land acquisition negotiations and site control plans, partnering with legal advisors to structure options, land leases, and necessary rights-of-way with municipalities and landowners to achieve positive outcomes for the company
- Conduct initial real property due diligence tasks, aligning title evaluations, ALTA surveys, Phase I ESAs, and preliminary geotechnical reviews to mitigate risk before formal permitting starts
- Partner with grid interconnection and power engineering groups to analyze localized transmission availability, sub-station capacity, and grid infrastructure for strategic off-take alignment
- Collaborate with multi-disciplinary project teams and manage external environmental consulting
firms and contractors - Responsible for overseeing contractor work quality and completeness
- Lead proactive community outreach during early site identification to establish strong local relationships and resolve potential land-use issues ahead of regulatory filings
- Represent the company at public hearings, regulatory proceedings, and community forums to communicate project technical details, environmental safeguards, and key benefits
- Lead the strategy, drafting, submission, and execution of major environmental and regulatory permit applications, including Wetlands, Air Quality, NPDES, Storm Water, and CPCN filings.
- Maintain productive relationships and technical proceedings with federal, state, and local regulatory bodies, public utility commissions, environmental agencies, and zoning authorities
- Coordinate cross-functionally with engineering, legal, project finance, origination, and external affairs teams to embed permitting requirements into schedules and design basis.
- Oversee external environmental consultants, legal counsel, and engineering firms in performing environmental impact studies and technical permit preparation
- Monitor regulatory proceedings, policy updates, and utility dockets to identify risks and implement proactive mitigation strategies
- Establish and manage post-issuance compliance and turnover systems to ensure adherence to monitoring, reporting, and operational requirements during construction and commissioning
- Develop and track permitting schedules, establish recovery plans for schedule variances, and maintain the permitting risk registry
- Build a standardized permitting knowledge base and operational framework to enable multi- site scaling, utilizing AI and advanced digital tools where applicable
Early Stakeholder Engagement
Permitting
What we're looking for:
- Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Urban/Regional Planning, Public Policy, Law, or a related technical field.
- 5–8+ years of experience leading complex environmental permitting, regulatory compliance, or land-use approvals for utility-scale energy, thermal power generation, or large industrial infrastructure projects
- Technical expertise in federal and state environmental regulatory frameworks (e.g., Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, NEPA/state equivalents).
- Exceptional project management skills and written/verbal communication skills
Bonus points for:
- Master’s degree or advanced technical degree preferred
- Experience in state public utility commission filings, PMP certification, proficiency with project scheduling software (MS Project, Primavera P6), and GIS applications
Must-have requirements:
- Perform activities such as typing, standing, and sitting, for extended periods of time
- Willingness to occasionally travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call - this position will require up to 25% travel (day-trip & overnight)
- Work in a facility that contains industrial hazards including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Urban or Regional Planning, Public Policy, Law, or a related technical field
- 5–8+ years of experience leading complex environmental permitting, regulatory compliance, or land-use approvals for utility-scale energy, thermal power generation, or large industrial infrastructure projects
- Technical expertise in federal and state environmental regulatory frameworks, including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, NEPA, or state equivalents
- Exceptional project management skills
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Master’s degree or advanced technical degree
- Experience with state public utility commission filings
- PMP certification
- Proficiency with project scheduling software such as MS Project or Primavera P6
- Experience with GIS applications
- Willingness to travel up to 25% and work occasional nights, weekends, or on-call schedules
- Ability to work in facilities containing industrial hazards, including high voltage, cryogenics, fumes, noise, heat, cold, and strong magnets
What We Do
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has the fastest, lowest cost path to commercial fusion energy. CFS is collaborating with MIT to leverage decades of research combined with new groundbreaking high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology. HTS magnets will enable compact fusion power plants that can be constructed faster and at lower cost. CFS is now building SPARC, the world's first commercially relevant, net energy fusion demonstration device. SPARC will pave the way for the first fusion power plant, ARC, that will produce power on the grid. The ultimate mission is to deploy fusion power plants to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible. CFS has assembled a team of leaders in tough tech, fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid execution. Supported by the world’s leading investors, CFS is uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to combat climate change. If you are interested in joining our team, check out cfs.energy/careers for more information.
