R&D Lead – Control Systems

Responsibilities

• Your near-term focus will be strengthening and standardizing control system architectures, hardware, software, and development practices across these applications. This includes advancing blended systems that use LabVIEW and NI hardware for FPGA and real-time layers, with API wrappers enabling Python or other text-based user interfaces and workflows. Over time, the team’s scope may expand to include contributions to the control system for Orion, Helion’s first fusion power plant. This is an onsite role that reports directly to the R&D Manager at our Everett, WA office.
• Lead the Controls Engineering team in the timely delivery of reliable control and data acquisition systems supporting R&D operations
• Set technical direction and improve development practices across architecture, coding, testing, deployment, configuration management, and documentation
• Advance scalable, maintainable blended architectures and use AI-assisted tools to accelerate code development, unit testing, and workflow automation
• Partner closely with scientists, engineers, machine operators, production teams, and other stakeholders to translate operational needs into effective controls solutions
• Lead, coach, and mentor engineers, including any direct reports, through clear expectations, actionable feedback, and technical rigor
• Anticipate technical and staffing constraints and demonstrate potential to take on broader strategic and organizational leadership

Requirements

• Demonstrated technical leadership experience and potential, including coaching or mentoring engineers; prior formal management experience is not required
• Strong proficiency with LabVIEW and NI hardware in control system applications, including PXI, cRIO, real-time systems, and FPGA, with the ability to increase the team’s technical capability
• Ability to set technical direction, improve code development processes, prioritize competing needs, and lead a team through ambiguous or rapidly changing requirements
• Experience developing control and data acquisition systems for large-scale, complex hardware
• Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills
• Experience designing or integrating blended control systems that connect LabVIEW and NI layers with Python, C/C++, MATLAB, or other text-based code through well-defined APIs

What You Will Be Doing

You will lead the Control Systems team within Helion’s R&D department in delivering reliable control and data acquisition systems that enable rapid experimentation while creating a scalable foundation for increasingly complex machines. This team delivers and maintains systems for high-voltage electrical test bays, plasma-technology test bays, production and manufacturing end-of-line testing, and large field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma machines.

Required Skills

Experience using AI-assisted coding tools to accelerate code development, unit testing, or workflow automation

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.