Director of Development Engineering

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Director of Development Engineering to join our team.

Position Description

The Director of Development Engineering oversees all civil, site, and nuclear engineering activities required to advance Aurora powerhouse sites through development and into construction readiness. Your team produces the technical deliverables — site layouts, basis-of-design packages, geotechnical and environmental assessments, and engineering inputs to permitting — that underpin state/local approvals and NRC licensing (coordinated with Oklo's Environmental & Permitting team), project financing, and construction handoff. Environmental & Permitting and Project Finance are coordinated with Oklo's dedicated teams.

Specific responsibilities may include:

Lead development engineering across all active sites: site layout, civil/grading design, geotechnical investigation, hydrology, and infrastructure planning

Solutions engineering for potential co-located buildings such as advanced manufacturing and data centers

Produce basis-of-design documentation sufficient for project finance due diligence and EPC handoff

Manage third-party engineering consultants and coordinate with Oklo's internal nuclear design team

Provide engineering inputs to NRC licensing and NEPA processes coordinated by Oklo's Environmental & Permitting team

Develop and maintain engineering standards, templates, and quality protocols for the Development organization

Partner with Oklo’s New Product Integration (NPI) team to translate reactor design requirements, siting criteria, and product evolution into site-specific technical constraints and development scope — ensuring early alignment between product design and site realities

Develop and own site constraints packages for each Aurora powerhouse development site, synthesizing geotechnical, hydrological, environmental, grid, and regulatory inputs into a single authoritative technical baseline that governs site selection, design, and permitting decisions

Integrate and quality-control deliverables from civil, geotechnical, environmental, and nuclear engineering consultants — ensuring all third-party work products are consistent, current, and accurately reflected in the site constraints package and project schedule

Own the development engineering schedule and provide cross-functional technical leadership to identify, prioritize, and mitigate technical risks and fatal flaws on project sites — coordinating with Project Development, Transmission & Interconnection, and Oklo’s Environmental & Permitting team to surface issues early and preserve development optionality

Lead structured technical risk reviews at each stage gate, evaluating site constraints packages against go/no-go criteria and escalating unresolved fatal flaw risks to the VP of Development with clear options analysis and recommended disposition

Build and manage a team of engineers across civil/site/electrical and nuclear development disciplines

Provide engineering support for Isotope production facilities, including facility layout, utility infrastructure design, and integration with co-located Aurora powerhouse systems

Lead development engineering for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses (NLICs), coordinating multi-use site design across power generation, isotope production, and research facility components

Minimum Qualifications:

12+ years in energy, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing or data center project development engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership role

Strong civil/site engineering background; nuclear project experience highly valued

Experience producing engineering deliverables for project financing and EPC handoff

PE license strongly preferred; experience with DOE or NRC-regulated facilities a significant advantage

Competencies