The Role
Lead hardware verification and validation for superconducting magnets, cryogenic systems, and high-vacuum components. Develop test strategies, oversee custom cryogenic and high-power test stands, analyze failure data, manage specialized vendors, and enforce safety standards. Mentor test engineers and technicians while collaborating across manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, controls, and physics teams to qualify fusion-energy hardware.
Summary Generated by Built In
About Thea Energy:
Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering to create a faster and simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy. The company is reinventing the stellarator using computer-controlled arrays of planar coils thereby replacing the intricate, complex modular magnets required in all other stellarator architectures. Thea Energy is on a mission to create a limitless source of zero emission energy for a sustainable future.
Position Overview:
Thea Energy is seeking a Senior Test Engineer to serve as a cornerstone of our hardware validation strategy. This role is central to the execution of a leading fusion energy company and requires a high degree of autonomy. You will drive the verification and validation efforts for our superconducting magnets as well as other critical technology, ensuring that our hardware meets the rigorous demands of a fusion environment. The role will require close alignment and cross-functional leadership across test, manufacturing, mechanical, and physics organizations. Your efforts will directly contribute to ensuring design success, enabling us to succeed in our commercial fusion energy goal. Thea Energy’s dynamic team is made up of self-motivated individuals with an excitement for solving complex problems.
Key Responsibility Areas:
- Develop and own test validation strategy, including defining the testing milestones required to qualify High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets, cryogenic systems, and high vacuum components.
- Act as a subject matter expert for the test engineering team. You will lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers and technicians, fostering a culture of rigorous data integrity and "first-principles" problem-solving.
- Oversee the design, build, and commissioning of large, custom, cryogenic and high power test stands.
- Analyze complex datasets to troubleshoot system-level failure modes. You will work closely with magnet, electrical, and controls teams to ensure test results directly inform and de-risk the next generation of stellarator design.
- Lead relationships with key vendors for specialized hardware and for advanced test facilities, managing high-value procurement contracts and coordinating external design, build, and validation efforts to meet aggressive project timelines.
- Establish and enforce rigorous safety protocols for high-voltage, high-field, and cryogenic environments, ensuring all operations meet or exceed IEEE, ANSI, and IEC standards where applicable.
Ideal Experience & Skillsets:
- 8+ years of hardware-centric test engineering experience in high-stakes environments (e.g., fusion, aerospace, superconducting magnets).
- BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.
- Proven track record of managing the verification and validation lifecycle for integrated systems.
- Mastery of LabVIEW and Python, with expertise in automating complex, multi-day cryogenic and electromagnetic tests.
- Demonstrated ability to work with a high degree of autonomy and make critical engineering decisions under tight deadlines.
- Exceptional ability to translate complex test data into actionable insights for executive leadership and external stakeholders.
- Ability to work through and solve highly multidisciplinary engineering problems.
- Ability to take initiative, work independently and as part of a team.
- Exceptional work ethic, with clear communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to occasionally lift objects up to 50 lbs.
It’s not necessary to meet all of the skillsets outlined above. Please feel free to send us a note and tell us why you would still be a great fit for this role or Thea Energy.
Diversity and Inclusion:
Thea Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a company of diverse backgrounds. By creating a diverse environment, we will bring new ideas and approaches to solving some of the world’s hardest (and most important) problems. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, family or marital status, age, disability, veteran’s status, or other characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of hardware-centric test engineering experience in high-stakes environments such as fusion, aerospace, or superconducting magnets
- Bachelor's or master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field
- Experience managing the verification and validation lifecycle for integrated systems
- Mastery of LabVIEW and Python
- Experience automating complex, multi-day cryogenic and electromagnetic tests
- Ability to work autonomously and make critical engineering decisions under tight deadlines
- Ability to translate complex test data into actionable insights for executive leadership and external stakeholders
- Ability to solve multidisciplinary engineering problems
- Initiative, independence, teamwork, communication, and collaboration skills
- Ability to occasionally lift objects up to 50 pounds
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The Company
What We Do
Thea Energy is a fusion energy company dedicated to creating a limitless source of zero-emission energy for a sustainable future. By reinventing the stellarator using arrays of mass-manufacturable magnets and dynamic software controls, they aim to commercialize scalable and economical fusion power systems, transitioning from scientific research to practical, commercial operations.
