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R&D Manager - Controls Systems

Helion Energy
Full Timemid
Everett, WAPosted January 20, 2026

Job Description

About Helion

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone. 

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised over $1 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors SoftBank and Lightspeed to propel us forward. Our last prototype, Trenta, completed 10,000 high-power pulses and reached plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV). We are now operating Polaris, our next prototype on the path to the world's first fusion power plant. 

This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.

What You Will Be Doing:

You will manage the control systems team in the R&D department. This team is responsible for delivering and maintaining control and data acquisition systems. These systems are used to control HV electrical test bays, control plasma technology development machines, control Production Manufacturing end-of-line testing, and control FRC plasma machines of varying sizes.

This team will be one of the primary contributors to the control system of our first power plant, Orion, and managing the development collaboration with the Engineering department will be a primary focus. You will report to the R&D Manager, onsite located at our Everett, WA office.

You Will:

  • Effectively lead controls engineers in the timely and successful delivery of a variety of control and data acquisition systems used across the organization
  • Develop and maintain effective, and productive cross-team collaborations, specifically those related to the buildout of the Orion machine
  • Proactively identify and mitigate future technical, and personnel blockers
  • Foster individual contributor career growth through effective leadership
  • Recruit and grow the team as needed to succeed in its mission
  • Effectively advocate for the team to other managers and up the leadership chain

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