Software Engineering Leader - Infrastructure and Computing

Radiant is an El Segundo, CA-based startup building the world’s first mass-produced, portable nuclear microreactors. The company’s first reactor, Kaleidos, is a 1-megawatt failsafe microreactor that can be transported anywhere power is needed and run for up to five years without the need to refuel. Portable nuclear power with rapid deploy capability can replace similar-sized diesel generators, and provide critical asset support for hospitals, data centers, remote sites, and military bases. Radiant’s unique, practical approach to nuclear development utilizes modern software engineering to rapidly achieve safe, factory-built microreactors that leverage existing, well-qualified materials. Founded in 2020, Radiant is on track to test its first reactor next year at the Idaho National Laboratory, with initial customer deliveries beginning in 2028.

About The Role

Radiant is seeking a hands-on

Software Engineering Leader for Infrastructure

to build and lead a team that scales our software infrastructure, developer tooling, and data processing capabilities that power our engineering organization in simulation, Multiphysics modeling, high-performance computing, and scientific computing. In this role, you will establish a platform function that serves as the backbone for Radiant's engineering organization—enabling faster iteration on reactor designs, sophisticated Digital Twin simulation and visualization, and data-driven analysis across the company. You will work in a highly interdisciplinary environment to build products that accelerate our path to deploying the world's first mass-produced nuclear reactor.

Responsibilities and Duties

- Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing team of software engineers focused on compute infrastructure, platform, scientific tooling, software tooling, CI/CD pipelines, deployments, and data processing systems.

- Partner with engineering leaders across software, simulation, electrical, mechanical, and nuclear disciplines to identify infrastructure and tooling needs.

- Build our HPC infrastructure, environment and tooling necessary to maintain high-quality standards and detect issues in real time across engineering systems.

- Own the technical roadmap for internal developer tooling: CI/CD pipelines, version control systems, artifact management, build systems, developer, scientific computing environments, testing frameworks, and release processes.

- Architect and maintain platforms that provide real-time monitoring, Digital Twin visualizations, and analysis tools for Kaleidos reactor systems.

- Scale data processing infrastructure to support increasingly sophisticated simulation post-processing, visualization, and analysis workflows.

- Foster a culture of engineering excellence through strong technical practices, automation, and continuous improvement.

- Recruit and develop top engineering talent while building a high-performance team culture that enables organizational velocity.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in computer science, physics, mechanical engineering, or a related engineering field from an accredited institution.

- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience in data infrastructure, compute platforms, high performance computing (HPC), scientific computing, developer productivity, software tooling, or platform engineering. - 3+ years of people management or technical leadership experience building and leading engineering teams. - Strong software development expertise in programming languages such as Python, Golang, Rust, C#, or C/C++.

- Deep understanding of computing, system design, data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems architecture.

- Extensive experience with build systems, data pipelines, and infrastructure automation.

- Experience leading technical projects and teams integrating software into hardware systems such as robotics, controls, circuits, devices, vehicles, etc.

- Proficiency with containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, Ansible, etc.).

- Significant experience working in hybrid cloud/on-premises environments, specifically AWS and Linux systems.

- Strong foundation in software engineering best practices (version control, code review, testing, CI/CD)

Preferred Qualifications

- Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in computer science, physics, mechanical, electrical engineering, or a similar field.

- 9+ years of professional software engineering experience in data infrastructure, compute platforms, high-performance computing, scientific computing, developer productivity, software tooling, or platform engineering. - 5+ years of people management or technical leadership experience building and leading engineering teams.

- Experience in highly regulated industries (aerospace, defense, automotive, nuclear, or medical devices).

- Background leading teams working on simulation workflows, computational modeling, or scientific computing infrastructure.

- Track record leading teams developing distributed systems, databases, large-scale data systems, and backend APIs.

- Experience building or managing infrastructure for hardware-in-the-loop or software-in-the-loop testing environments.

- Strong DevOps background with expertise in observability, monitoring, and reliability engineering practices. Tools like Datadog, Grafana, InfluxDB, Prometheus, Nagios, etc.

Work Environment

- Must work 100% onsite at El Segundo HQ.

- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to accomplish our mission.

Total Compensation And Benefits

Radiant compensates people for impact and invests in those who continue to raise the bar. Radiant’s new hire compensation package includes base salary, substantial equity grants, and comprehensive health benefits. Total compensation and level are determined through a rigorous evaluation of interview performance, experience, education, and qualifications, and are designed to support continued growth as scope, responsibility, and impact expand at Radiant.

The best of today’s advanced reactor builders don’t wait for job postings. They join the winning team. If that’s you, contact us directly for immediate opportunities: recruiting@radiantnuclear.com.

Benefits And Perks For Eligible Employees

- Stock: Substantial incentive stock plan for all full-time employees. - Medical: 100% premium coverage for base Silver level plan for employee + 50% premium coverage for dependents. Platinum plans available.

- One Medical: Sponsored memberships for eligible employees and their dependents.

- Vision: 100% premium coverage for top tier plan + 50% for dependents. - Dental: 100% premium coverage for top tier plan (including orthodontia) + 50% for dependents.

- Voluntary life, accident, hospital, critical illness, commuter and FSA/HSA are offered as employee contributed benefits.

- 8-weeks of paid parental leave for all parents. Additional paid pregnancy leave for CA employees.

- Daily catered lunch. Free snacks and drinks.

- Flexible PTO policy. Remote workday allocation.

- Company and team-bonding events, happy hours and in-person camaraderie.

- Beautiful El Segundo headquarters close to the Pacific Ocean.

- Burgeoning satellite offices in Oak Ridge, TN and Washington, D.C., near Capitol Hill.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time. This position involves access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.