Manager, Plant Control Engineering

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’ll grow and lead a team that bridges physics, electrical design, software engineering, and operations — creating a unified platform that allows fusion machines to operate efficiently, adapt to grid conditions, and evolve toward commercial reliability. You will report to the Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering and this is an onsite role located at our Everett, WA office. You will: - Build and lead a multidisciplinary team of software, firmware, and electrical engineers developing the full control stack for a fusion power plant — from embedded controllers to supervisory automation and data pipelines - Own the plant-level control system — both the closed-loop control of critical subsystems (thermal management, grid interface, uptime management) and the supervisory coordination layer that orchestrates overall plant behavior - Guide system design and implementation of hardware and software for reliable, real-time control, ensuring consistent plant performance during scheduled operations and dynamic grid events - Coordinate cross-disciplinary development between hardware owners, data analysts, and operations teams to translate machine capability and experimental intent into robust, testable control logic - Develop front-end control and visualization interfaces that support both rapid experimental iteration and long-term automated operation - Architect scalable back-end data systems capable of acquiring and correlating signals and events spanning nanoseconds to weeks — integrating high-speed acquisition hardware, streaming frameworks, and long-term storage systems - Drive design reviews, reliability improvements, and fault response strategies that maximize plant uptime and ensure graceful recovery from operational faults - Mentor and grow a world-class technical team, balancing hands-on leadership with long-term vision for automation and control of fusion plants at commercial scale Required Skills & Experience - Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related discipline - 7+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years in a technical leadership or management role - Proven experience leading or managing multidisciplinary engineering teams (software, firmware, and electrical) - Deep technical understanding of real-time or embedded control systems, including firmware and hardware interface design - Proficiency with software development and deployment in languages such as Python, C/C++, or Rust - Experience with control system frameworks (e.g., EPICS, ROS, or custom industrial control architectures) - Familiarity with analog and digital circuit fundamentals, embedded processor design, and hardware bring-up - Strong background in data acquisition and signal processing — from high-speed transient capture to long-term trend analysis - Understanding of networked control and telemetry systems, including message buses, data serialization, and fault-tolerant design - Demonstrated ability to deliver integra