Senior/Staff Structural Engineer

at  Blue Energy

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Blue Energy’s mission is to unlock energy abundance, energy affordability, energy security, and turn-key decarbonization by developing the fastest path to deploying new nuclear MWs at scale. We are utilizing shipyard manufacturing supply chains and techniques from offshore oil and wind to reduce the cost of nuclear plants by over 60% and the manufacturing timeline to 24 months. Blue Energy is a platform technology that makes use of the latest NRC-approved reactors and is in negotiations with existing nuclear and industrial sites, enabling a much faster regulatory pathway to deploy our first unit. With our innovative centralized shipyard manufacturing approach, we can put nuclear power on a cost-reduction learning curve akin to wind, solar, and lithium ion batteries.
Blue Energy is looking for talented, hands-on engineers to join our intimate team of multidisciplinary engineers.
The Senior/Staff Mechanical Engineer (leveling determined by experience) will spearhead engineering endeavors encompassing the full scope of the plant’s design and installation, from conceptual design stages to detailed design for manufacturing. You will work alongside our Chief Engineer on foundation design, seismic isolation systems, and structural design of the balance of plant. This role will require you to expand your expertise in shipyard manufacturing, offshore logistics, naval engineering, nuclear engineering, and thermal power plant engineering. You will have the opportunity to lead design efforts from day one, taking on broad responsibilities across the engineering spectrum.

HELPFUL BACKGROUND

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field, with 7-12 years of relevant experience.
• Familiarity with relevant software and analytical tools such as MCNP, ANSYS, LS-DYNA, Abaqus, COMSOL, Nastran, AutoCAD and/or SolidWorks.
• Familiar with industry codes and standards such as IBC, ASCE, AISC, ACI, AWS, ASME, etc.
• Experience designing and analyzing structural elements of large structures, such as naval vessels, offshore platforms, buildings, thermal power plants, or aerospace systems.
• Experience balancing cost, speed, feasibility of construction and ease of manufacturing across rapid design cycles.
• Experience traveling to the build site to manage construction processes and live troubleshooting with the contractors involved.
  Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Blue Energy we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every point in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles now, or in the future.

YOU WILL THRIVE IN THIS ROLE IF YOU HAVE:

• Built something real: You have worked from an idea on a page, through FEED, test, all the way to implementation. Whether it is commissioning a new plant, first flight, or the successful deployment of a new technology, you know what is required to bring an idea to fruition.
• Expertise in highly regulated engineering: You know the regs and standards of your industry inside and out, and maybe have sat on committees to improve them. It’s okay if you don’t know what NUREG-0800 is yet, but you should be eager to learn it. You have worked closely with systems engineers, or have served as one yourself, to help build and adhere to the requirements for your project.
• Structural Engineering Depth: Deeply knowledgeable in analytical methods for structural engineering problems in naval, offshore, or civil structures. You have 10 or so textbooks earmarked with your favorite methods. You always start with a hand calculation before moving on to computational models, even for complex multi-pile interactions, and are comfortable with a range of computational tools for structural, thermal, and fluid simulations.
• Leadership Skills: You know how to lead yourself in high paced, challenging technical environments, and lead others by example. You have a high standard for your work, and as a senior member of the technical staff will go above and beyond to bring out the best in all of your teammates as we all strive for engineering excellence.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: A passion for creation, ingenuity, hard work, and running through walls to accomplish your goals.
• Strong Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey technical concepts to diverse audiences, including clients, regulators, and internal stakeholders.
• Curiosity: When someone mentions something you have not heard before, you already have a tab open ready to explore. When someone disagrees with you, your immediate response is not defensiveness, but curiosity about what the best solution might be and what might be missing.
• Pragmatic Creativity: When a technical challenge emerges you contribute novel solutions from yourself and others that are motivated by a reduction in technical, operational, and regulatory complexity. You don’t invent new things for the sake of newness, but primarily for the sake of simplification wherever possible.
• A commitment to finish what you start: Whether it is a home project or a new project, you have a record of finishing as many projects as you start. You only say yes to what you believe is possible and worth pursuing, and if you say yes to this job you will be at our first site to cut the ribbon.

As Blue Energy’s Senior/Staff Mechanical Engineer, your responsibilities and activities will include:

• Blank Sheet Design: Able to apply first principles to solve engineering challenges. You will help develop and execute our technical roadmap from conceptual design through the first shovel of dirt. You will probe every design variable and decision until we are convinced we are building the most pragmatic nuclear power plant ever built.
• Hands on Engineering: From building ANSYS models, to power plant layout optimization, to visiting key manufacturers, to in-water testing, you will be pivotal in tackling our toughest engineering challenges. Our office is located near a cutting edge shipyard, and we expect there to be lots of field trips.
• Path Setting: We want to utilize the trodden path wherever possible, but know there will be some places where we need to build what has never been built before. In many cases, we will borrow from other fields, but acknowledge that in order to make NPP’s safer, cheaper, and build them quickly, we will need to work with regulators, manufacturers, policy makers, community organizations, and others to build a new path forward for nuclear. You will help design, analyze, document, and write the whitepapers for new approaches that help accelerate the buildout of NPP’s.
• Team Building and Mentorship: As an early team member, you will help establish and uphold Blue Energy’s engineering culture of curiosity, pragmatism, and overachievement. Lead by example as the team grows