Digital Twin Product Lead
TerraPower LLC. · Bellevue, Washington, United States
TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits.
TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Key Responsibilities
Define the Digital Twin philosophy at TerraPower
- Establish and communicate a clear, practical definition of a nuclear reactor "digital twin" for TerraPower, including what it is, what it is not, and how its different forms (design, planning, construction, operations) relate to each other.
- Build alignment across Design, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Enterprise AI & IT around a shared vocabulary, maturity model, and set of guiding principles.
- Act as the authoritative voice on digital twin strategy, resolving competing interpretations and keeping that direction consistent over time.
- Connect the digital twin philosophy to TerraPower's broader Digital Product and Enterprise AI goals.
Frame and constrain technical decisions
- Develop a working understanding of the technologies involved, including modeling and simulation, 3D/CAD and building information mode (BIM) environments, engineering data and configuration management, sensor and operational data, and AI/ML, as they apply to advanced nuclear.
- Clearly distinguish between products (capabilities a user consumes), platforms (shared foundations that many products build on), and architecture (how the pieces fit, integrate, and evolve), and use that distinction to guide investment and design decisions.
- Evaluate technical, resource, and capability trade-offs proposed by internal and external engineering teams, and make or recommend clear decisions.
- Prevent distraction, gold-plating, and scope creep by holding projects to defined use cases, value, and boundaries.
- Partner with enterprise architecture, data management, and information security to ensure digital twin solutions fit TerraPower's data, security, export-control, and regulatory requirements.
Manage partner and stakeholder interaction
- Build and maintain the right level of relationship with internal "customers" across Design, Engineering, and Operations, understanding their needs without becoming a pass-through for every request.
- Manage relationships with third-party technology and services partners, setting clear expectations, scope, and success criteria.
- Because digital twins may represent things that already exist, actively identify existing models, data, tools, and efforts before new work begins, and prevent duplication across internal teams and partners.
- Ensure every engagement delivers net value to TerraPower rather than parallel or redundant capability.
Own delivery of capabilities
- Take end-to-end ownership of TerraPower’s Natrium digital twin initiatives: initiating, scoping, prioritizing, progressing, and completing projects.
- Maintain a prioritized digital twin roadmap and portfolio aligned to Digital Product goals and program milestones.
- Define success measures for each capability and report progress, risks, and outcomes to leadership.
- Make timely decisions, escalate when appropriate, and close out or stop work that is not delivering value.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, physics, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
- 8+ years of experience in technical product management, digital engineering, systems engineering, or technical program leadership, including 3+ years leading digital twin, modeling and simulation, or comparable digital engineering initiatives.
- Familiarity with the analysis codes the twin may need to wrap or validate against. These include internally developed tools, DOE/INL’s MOOSE framework and NEAMS tools, GOTHIC, RELAP5-3D or TRACE for thermal-hydraulics, MELCOR for severe accidents, and MCNP or Serpent for neutronics.
- Demonstrated understanding of how products, platforms, and architecture differ, and experience applying that distinction to technology strategy and investment decisions.
- Proven ability to understand complex design, engineering, and operational processes and workflows, and to translate them into prioritized use cases and requirements.
- Track record of delivering technical capabilities through engineering teams and external partners without direct ownership of execution.
- Strong ability to evaluate technical, resource, and capability trade-offs and make defensible decisions independently.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to set requirements and expectations for engineers and to explain trade-offs clearly to non-technical stakeholders and executives.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in nuclear, energy, aerospace, defense, or another highly regulated, engineering-intensive industry.
- Familiarity with full-scope nuclear plant simulators.
- Familiarity with nuclear design, licensing, and quality frameworks (e.g., NRC regulations, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, NQA-1) and their implications for engineering data and digital tools and support of verification and validation (V&V) processes.
- Experience with nuclear cybersecurity requirements (10 CFR 73.54 / NEI 08-09 in the US).
- Experience with engineering data management, PLM, configuration management, or systems engineering (MBSE) practices.
- Understanding of how AI/ML and knowledge graphs can augment digital twins.
- Experience establishing a new capability or discipline within an organization, including defining its vision, operating model, and governance.
- Advanced degree in a relevant technical field.
Job Functions:
Job Functions are physical actions and/or working conditions associated with the position. These functions may also constitute essential functions for the job which the employee must be able to fulfill, with or without accommodation. Information provided below is to help describe the job so that the applicant has a reasonable understanding of the job duties/expectations. An applicant's ability to perform and/or tolerate these actions and conditions will be discussed and workplace accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis following an individualized assessment of the applicant and other considerations, including but not limited to any governing safety standards.
- Motor Abilities: Sitting for extended periods, bending/stooping, grasping/gripping, fine motor control (hands)
- Physical exertion and/or requirements: Minimal, with ability to safely lift up to 25 pounds.
- Re