LabVIEW Controls Lead

Employer description

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 Will Be Doing:

You will lead the Control Systems team within Helion’s R&D department on delivering reliable systems that enable rapid experimentation while creating a scalable foundation for increasingly complex machines. This team delivers and maintains control and data acquisition 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.

Your near-term focus will be strengthening and standardizing control system architectures, hardware, software, and development practices across these applications. Over time, the team’s scope may expand to include contributions to the control system for Orion, Helion’s first fusion power plant. You will report to the R&D Manager and work onsite at our Everett, WA office.

You Will:

Lead the Controls Engineering team in the timely delivery of reliable control and data acquisition systems supporting R&D operations

Set technical direction, priorities, ownership, and engineering standards across controls development, testing, deployment, configuration management, and documentation

Balance rapid delivery for near-term experimental needs with building scalable, maintainable control systems for future growth

Partner closely with scientists, engineers, machine operators, production teams, and other stakeholders to translate operational needs into effective controls solutions

Develop a high-performing engineering team through coaching, feedback, and technical rigor

Anticipate and address technical, organizational, and staffing constraints, including scaling and growing the team as needed

Required Skills:

Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, and mentor engineers, including setting clear expectations, providing actionable feedback, and building accountability

Technical proficiency with LabVIEW and NI hardware in control system applications, including PXI, cRIO, real-time systems, and FPGA

Ability to set technical direction, 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 integrating PLCs with LabVIEW- and NI-based control systems

Experience integrating text-based code, such as C or MATLAB, with LabVIEW- and NI-based control systems

#LI-Onsite

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.