Principal Instrumentation & Controls Engineer – Hardware

At Valar Atomics, we're redefining what's possible in energy. Our mission is to make clean, high-temperature nuclear power scalable—unlocking abundant energy for industry, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe nuclear energy should be fast to deploy, factory-made, and built for the real world. Our first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah will demonstrate how advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication can power the future.

Joining Valar Atomics means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level.

You will be joining Valar Atomics' Instrumentation, Control & Electrical (IC&E) organization. I&C Hardware Engineers own the physical measurement and control layer field instrumentation and final elements, control panels and I/O architecture, field wiring and network infrastructure, and safety instrumented system hardware, along with the calibration and commissioning practices that keep those systems trustworthy. You will work alongside I&C software, process, electrical, mechanical, and nuclear safety engineers in a hands-on environment where measurement quality and installation integrity directly support production reliability and nuclear safety.

As the principal engineer, you will be the discipline's most senior technical voice: the architect of its systems, the final checker of its highest-consequence work, and a standard-setter for the engineers who will build their careers here. The team values technical depth, disciplined documentation, and a safety-first culture.

Valar Atomics is seeking Principal Instrumentation & Controls Hardware Engineers to own the technical direction of the instrumentation and control hardware discipline across our reactor and nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities. The role spans the full instrumentation hardware domain: field instruments and final elements, control panel and I/O architecture, hazardous area design, safety instrumented system hardware, field wiring and OT network infrastructure, and calibration and commissioning practice, but at the level of architecture, strategy, and design authority rather than routine execution.

This is a principal position: you will define the measurement and control hardware architecture and technology roadmap for a first-of-a-kind nuclear program, hold final technical approval authority within the discipline, direct the resolution of the highest-consequence and most novel engineering problems, represent the discipline to regulators, standards bodies, and strategic vendors, and build the engineering capability of the organization around you.

Where a Staff engineer owns the discipline's standards and quality, the Principal engineer owns where the discipline is going.

• Define and own the I&C hardware architecture and technology roadmap across the reactor program and fuel manufacturing facilities, including instrument platform and protocol strategy, panel and I/O architecture philosophy, safety instrumented system architecture philosophy, and OT network physical infrastructure strategy.
• Author and own the discipline's design philosophy and basis documents, measurement strategy, redundancy and segregation philosophy, hazardous area design approach, grounding and shielding philosophy, and calibration and maintenance philosophy that constrain and guide all downstream project engineering.
• Direct measurement technology strategy for first-of-a-kind and severe-service conditions where no proven commercial solution exists, including sponsoring technology trade studies, vendor development programs, prototype and qualification campaigns, and make-or-buy decisions with long-term consequences.
• Own the discipline'sstandards program: set the framework and priorities for engineering standards, delegate authorship to staff and senior engineers, and approve standards for release; drive convergence and standardization across projects and sites.
• Evaluate emerging instrumentation, diagnostics, and OT infrastructure technology; decide what enters the toolkit, what is piloted, and what is excluded, balancing innovation against nuclear quality and long-term supportability.

• Serve as the discipline design authority: hold final technical approval within I&C hardware for architecture decisions, safety-significant designs, deviations from standards, and concessions;…