Program Director – First Commercial Reactor (FOAK

Position: Program Director – First Commercial Reactor (FOAK)
Your mission  We are looking for an exceptional Program Director to join our team and help realize one of the world's most promising reactor technologies from design and engineering through prototyping, manufacturing and industrialization.
As a pioneer in advanced nuclear technology, we are redefining the future of clean energy. If you are an experienced project or program director with a passion for groundbreaking technologies and a track record of delivering complex multidisciplinary systems, we invite you to help build Europe’s first molten salt reactor.
As Program Director FOAK, you will lead the development and delivery of Europe’s first commercial molten salt reactor. This is one of Europe’s most ambitious engineering programs, taking the reactor from conceptual design through detailed engineering, licensing, industrialization, construction and commissioning. You will be responsible for transforming an innovative concept into a commercially successful nuclear power plant.
Working at the intersection of engineering, licensing, industrialization and strategic partnerships, you will build and lead the organization responsible for the First Commercial Reactor. Together with the CTO, COO and multidisciplinary teams, you will define the integrated roadmap, align technical decisions with execution, and maintain momentum across one of Europe’s most complex deep tech programs.
We are looking for an experienced engineering or project leader with a track record of delivering complex multidisciplinary programs, bringing together technical experts, industrial partners and external stakeholders, and turning ambitious visions into reality.
The Program Director reports to the COO and is ideally based in the Netherlands.
In this role you will:
Own the project:
You own the successful delivery of Thorizon’s first commercial reactor, from today’s design, engineering and licensing activities through industrialization, construction and commissioning. You define and drive the integrated roadmap across engineering, validation, licensing, permitting, civil works, supply chain development and deployment, managing dependencies, risks and milestones to bring the reactor to commercial reality.
Deliver a competitive reactor:
Working closely with the CTO and multidisciplinary engineering teams, you ensure technical excellence translates into an executable project. You continuously optimize the design and manage trade-offs between safety, performance, reliability, manufacturability, constructability, schedule and cost, so the reactor meets its performance, availability and lifetime targets while remaining licensable, buildable and commercially competitive.
Build the Industrial Ecosystem:
You build long term relationships with engineering companies, civil contractors, manufacturing partners, suppliers and strategic partners that enable successful deployment. You define the industrial delivery strategy, supply chain, procurement approach and future delivery model required to scale the technology from first deployment to commercial fleet rollout.
Drive Project Excellence:
You establish the governance, planning, risk management and execution framework required to deliver a first of a kind reactor program. You create the structure, decision making processes and project controls that let teams execute with pace while maintaining the rigor nuclear delivery requires.
Define the plant requirements:
You work closely with future operators, end users and key stakeholders to translate operational needs into plant requirements, functional specifications and project priorities, ensuring alignment throughout the program and laying the foundation for commercial success.
Drive Licensing and Permitting:
You build trusted relationships with regulators and public authorities to establish the licensing, permitting and site development strategy for the program. You define the long term roadmap, align key milestones, and enable timely progression of activities.
Build and Lead the Team:
You recruit, develop and lead a multidisciplinary project organization, creating an environment where systems engineers, project managers and technical specialists…