Mechanical Engineering Manager

Join us in our mission to commercialize fusion energy

About Type One Energy

Type One Energy Group is mission-driven to provide sustainable, affordable fusion power to the world. Established in 2019 and venture-backed in 2023, the company is led by a team of globally recognized fusion scientists with a strong track record of building state-of-the-art stellarator fusion machines, together with veteran business leaders experienced in scaling companies and commercializing energy technologies.

If you are searching for the best new ideas and share our vision, join us as a Mechanical Engineering Manager. This is what you need to know:

Location: Knoxville, TN

Salary: Highly Competitive Plus Benefits

Contract: Permanent, full time

Reporting to: Senior Director of Engineering

Your role in the mission:

Type One Energy is seeking an Mechanical Engineering Manager to oversee, coordinate, and optimize the deployment of engineering resources across multiple technically complex programs. This role is critical to ensuring that engineering talent is effectively aligned with project priorities, schedules, and technical requirements while maintaining the highest standards of engineering quality.

The role operates within a matrixed engineering organization, working closely with Engineering Directors, Technical Leads, Project Managers, HR, and cross-functional stakeholders. The role combines people leadership, resource and capacity planning, and hands-on technical oversight.

In addition to resource management responsibilities, the Engineering Resource Manager will act as a Senior Design Engineer, contributing to technical work as appropriate, participating in design reviews, and ensuring the quality and integrity of engineering models, analyses, and drawings.

Engineering Resource Planning & Allocation

• Assign engineers to projects based on technical skill sets, experience level, and project priorities.
• Balance workloads across teams to ensure efficient utilization while avoiding burnout or skill misalignment.
• Continuously monitor resource capacity and utilization across ongoing and planned projects.
• Forecast future engineering resource requirements based on the project pipeline, program schedules, and business objectives.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Engineering to resolve resource conflicts and competing priorities across programs.

People Leadership & Performance Management

• Provide direct people leadership to assigned engineers, scientists, and technical staff.
• Support employee needs and serve as a point of escalation, representing team concerns and issues to HR and leadership.
• Facilitate performance management processes, including goal setting, feedback, performance reviews, and development planning.
• Ensure engineers are delivering effectively on assigned tasks and proactively address performance or engagement issues.

Capability Development & Workforce Growth

• Maintain a deep understanding of the technical skills, strengths, and development areas of the engineering team.
• Identify missing, underrepresented, or critical skill sets required to meet current and future program needs.
• Partner with HR and Engineering leadership to support recruiting and onboarding of new engineers.
• Work with individual engineers to identify training and professional development needs and support their growth.
• Establish and maintain teams of excellence (e.g., simulation, CAD, drawing, analysis teams) to strengthen core engineering capabilities.

Engineering Quality & Technical Oversight

• Actively mentor junior and mid-career engineers to grow technical depth, rigor, and engineering judgment.
• Ensure that sound engineering practices, standards, and documentation requirements are consistently followed.
• Participate in technical and design reviews to ensure quality, completeness, and integration of engineering work.
• Review and provide oversight on engineering models, analyses, and drawings to maintain technical excellence.
• Promote continuous improvement in engineering processes, tools, and workflows.

What you’ll need:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Physics, or a closely related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering design within complex technical environments.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience developing and deploying new or first-of-a-kind technologies.
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to forecast resource needs, manage capacity, and balance competing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience serving as a resource manager in a matrixed engineering organization.
• Familiarity with task scheduling and work management tools such as Jira or Microsoft Teams.
• Experience working in the fusion energy sector or other advanced energy, nuclear, or high-reliability industries.
• Proficiency with Siemens NX.
• Experience working with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in fast-paced environments with aggressive schedules and evolving priorities.

We offer:

In addition to a basic salary and yearly bonus, you will also get…

• A hybrid work policy
• Stock options
• Relocation allowance
• Insurance plans
• Retirement options
• And many more great voluntary benefits

Type One Energy applies proven advanced manufacturing methods, modern computational physics and high-field superconducting magnets to develop its optimized stellarator fusion energy system. Our FusionDirect development program pursues the lowest-risk, shortest-schedule path to a fusion power plant over the coming decade, using a partner-intensive and capital-efficient strategy.

Type One Energy is committed to community engagement in the development and deployment of its clean energy technology. For more information, visit www.typeoneenergy.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Export Control Compliance Notice

This position may require access to technology, technical data, software, or other information that is subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations. Any offer of employment will be contingent upon the Company's ability to comply with applicable U.S. Export Control Laws, including obtaining any required government authorizations.

Type One Energy is a Global, U.S.-based company that develops and utilizes technologies subject to U.S. export control and trade compliance regulations. Certain positions may require access to controlled technologies, technical data, software, or other information regulated by U.S. Export Control Laws.

For positions involving access to export-controlled technology or information, the Company may be required to determine whether any government authorization or license is needed before such access can be provided. Any offer of employment for such positions may be contingent upon the Company's ability to comply with applicable U.S. Export Control Laws and obtain any required government authorizations.

U.S. Employment Eligibility Verification

For positions based in the United States, Type One Energy participates in E-Verify and verifies the identity and employment authorization of newly hired employees in accordance with applicable federal law. Employees hired to work in the United States will be required to complete the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process upon hire.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Type One Energy is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made based on qualifications, merit, business needs, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Candidate Privacy

Type One Energy collects personal information from applicants for recruitment, hiring, and related business purposes. We process applicant information in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws and take reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality and security of personal information. By applying for a position, you acknowledge that your personal information may be collected, used, stored, transferred, and disclosed as necessary to evaluate your candidacy, conduct pre-employment screenings where permitted by law, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements.