Manager, Machine Maintenance and Integration

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 $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors including Thrive Capital, LightSpeed Venture Capital, SoftBank, and others to propel us forward. Our current prototype, Polaris, has reached record-breaking plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius (13 keV). Helion is continuing to iterate and on the path to the world's first fusion power plant, Orion.

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’ll Do:

We are looking for a Manager, Machine Maintenance and Integration to lead the teams that maintain, repair, and upgrade Helion’s experimental and large-scale fusion machines. You will lead our machine maintenance engineers and the managers of our AM and PM technician shifts. Together, your team will keep machines ready for operation while supporting rapid changes in a demanding experimental environment.

In this position, you will own the work control, maintenance, and reliability programs that allow multiple teams to work safely and effectively on our machines. You will balance urgent repairs, preventive maintenance, integration work, and upgrades, while developing processes that scale across our machines. This is an onsite role located at our Everett, WA office that reports into our Senior Manager of R&D.

You Will:

• Lead, coach, and develop maintenance engineers and technician shift managers, building effective coverage, shift handoffs, onboarding, and qualification programs

• Own the machine maintenance and work-control program from intake and planning through execution, verification, testing, closeout, and return to service

• Partner with Operations to prioritize repairs, preventive maintenance, upgrades, and integration work; develop executable work packages and manage maintenance schedules, resources, spares, vendors, and contractor support

• Champion a strong safety culture by reinforcing stop-work authority and ensuring effective pre-job briefs, energy controls, work permits, configuration management, and management of change

• Build a data-driven preventive maintenance and reliability program using equipment history, failure analysis, and performance metrics to reduce recurring issues and improve machine availability

• Oversee machine upgrades and integration readiness from scope and resource planning through installation, commissioning, and operational turnover, while ensuring new hardware is safe, testable, maintainable, and scalable across multiple experimental machines

Required Skills:

• 2+ years of people-management experience, including leading technicians, engineers, supervisors, or technical leads while building effective coordination across shifts

• 5+ years in maintenance, engineering, or operations within a complex, fast-paced, or high-growth operating facility

• Demonstrated ability to translate changing operational priorities and requests from multiple teams into realistic work plans, including equipment modifications and upgrades

• Hands-on understanding of hardware installation, testing, maintenance, repair, and commissioning, with the ability to read technical drawings and evaluate technical work plans

• Working knowledge of work authorization, lockout/tagout, work permits, configuration management, management of change, and return-to-service requirements for equipment with significant stored energy

• Experience managing preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, and structured failure investigations using a computerized maintenance management system, with the ability to surface risks and communicate technical tradeoffs clearly

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field

Benefits

Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families

• 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)

• 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break

• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match

• Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance

• Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)

• Annual wellness stipend

Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.