Manager, Supplier Development Engineer

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: As the Manager of Supplier Development Engineering, you will lead the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of Helion’s supplier readiness, supplier quality, and supplier technical capability as we scale from prototype builds to high-volume manufacturing for fusion generator production. You will manage a team of Supplier Development Engineers and partner closely with design engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations to ensure suppliers can meet Helion’s technical, quality, cost, and delivery requirements. You will drive supplier performance, develop long-term manufacturing capability, and build a resilient, high-quality supply chain that accelerates Helion's mission of delivering clean fusion electricity. This is an onsite role that reports directly to the Senior Manager of Mechanical Engineering at our Everett, WA office. You Will: - Manage, coach, and grow a high-performing team of Supplier Development Engineers while setting priorities, resource plans, and execution frameworks to support major program milestones - Develop and implement Helion’s supplier development strategy to strengthen supplier technical capability and readiness - Collaborate with engineering teams to understand part and subsystem requirements and translate them into supplier manufacturing and quality expectations - Lead supplier selection, capability assessments, and sourcing decisions in partnership with supply chain teams - Evaluate supplier manufacturing processes, quality systems, capacity, and scalability against Helion’s requirements - Oversee deployment of PPAP, APQP, FAI, control plans, and other qualification processes across critical suppliers - Drive systematic root cause investigations, corrective actions, and continuous improvement for supplier nonconformances - Use data, metrics, and supplier performance dashboards to guide improvements and long-term strategic decisions - Guide suppliers through prototype builds, engineering validation, pilot production, and scaling to high-volume output - Ensure supplier documentation, inspection plans, and verification methods meet Helion’s engineering and regulatory standards - Partner with manufacturing engineering to introduce high-volume production methods and refine manufacturability - Develop long-term supplier capability plans that reduce risk, accelerate production timelines, and incorporate emerging manufacturing technologies Required Skills: - Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Material Science or a related field - 7+ years of experience in supplier development, supplier quality, or manufacturing engineering, including direct experience working with and developing suppliers - 3+ years of experience leading engineering teams or technical programs - Strong background in mechanical and electrical manufacturing processes (such as machining, electromechanical assembly, PCBA fabrication, Silicon device manufacturing, and high-precision component manufac