Control Systems Architect – IFE

Xcimer Energy leverages decades of research on Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) combined with groundbreaking new laser architecture. Our mission is to deploy fusion power plants to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible. Xcimer has assembled a team of leaders in tough tech, fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid execution. Supported by leading investors, Xcimer is uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to combat climate change. Join us in powering a better world with inertial fusion!

As a Control Systems Architect on our Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program, you will define the control system architecture for Xcimer’s fusion power plant and carry it from concept through detailed design. You will work directly with the program’s control systems director as the hands-on engineering counterpart, turning plant-level control philosophy into architecture, interface definitions, and design baselines. You will also contribute as a working controls engineer within the plant’s other major systems such as laser, fusion chamber, fuel processing, and power conversion, as their control and instrumentation designs mature. Working within the Electrical & Control Systems Engineering department, you will exercise independent judgment on complex, first-of-a-kind problems, with work reviewed against program objectives. We are looking for our engineers to apply their technical expertise, problem solving skills, and dedication to quality to positively impact the future of energy!

Define and maintain the plant control system architecture: safety, real-time, and supervisory control layers, network segmentation, precision timing and triggering, and plant data capture, documented in architecture descriptions and control narratives.

Develop control system requirements and interface definitions between the plant control system and the plant’s major systems, and carry them through gated design reviews and change control.

Contribute hands-on controls and instrumentation design within other plant systems: I/O and signal definitions, control sequences, interlocks, and operating modes.

Evaluate and select control platforms, protocols, and standards, and build prototype or testbed implementations to retire architecture risk early.

Support the program’s control systems director with trade studies, technical analyses, design review material, and staffing and schedule inputs for the control system scope.

Experience with nuclear or other licensed facilities, including safety classification, defense in depth, and instrumentation and control qualification.

Experience with functional safety lifecycle work (IEC 61508/61511), SIL allocation, and cause and effect design.

Experience with precision timing and triggering, high-speed data acquisition, or pulsed power controls.

Experience with OT cybersecurity (IEC 62443) and segregated control network design.

Hands-on experience with Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens, Rockwell, or EPICS-class control platforms, and with Python or LabVIEW for test automation.