Stellarator Systems Architect

About the role

This position places you at the center of Europe's most advanced fusion energy initiative, responsible for shaping the system architecture of the world's first commercial stellarator power plant. You will guide the Alpha machine toward its primary mission goals while managing rapid, detailed design choices that define its operational envelope. In this role, you will tackle deeply complex engineering problems, translating advanced physics concepts into functional hardware through close collaboration with a pragmatic, globally distributed team. You will integrate feedback from subsystem teams and detailed engineering into the machine's architecture quickly and effectively, ensuring alignment with evolving project objectives. A core part of your work involves pinpointing and quantifying significant model uncertainties in the design process to allocate or reclaim critical design margins where they matter most. You will discover opportunities to reduce costs or improve performance using first-principles estimates and simplified models, then coordinate their implementation with relevant teams across the organization. Your responsibility will include ensuring the Alpha stellarator's design remains coherent, incorporating diverse engineering feedback into architectural decisions that enhance performance, margin, and cost efficiency. Ultimately, you will be responsible for the overall elegance and efficiency of Alpha's final design concept, setting a benchmark for future stellarator-based power plants.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Guide the Alpha machine toward its primary mission goals while managing rapid, detailed design choices that affect long-term system performance.
• Integrate feedback from subsystem teams and detailed engineering into the machine's architecture quickly and effectively, maintaining coherence across all design domains.
• Pinpoint and quantify significant model uncertainties in the design process to allocate or reclaim design margins where risk is highest.
• Discover opportunities to reduce costs or improve performance using first-principles estimates and simplified models, then coordinate their implementation with relevant engineering and procurement teams.
• Ensure the Alpha stellarator's design is coherent, incorporating engineering feedback into architectural decisions that enhance performance, margin, and cost simultaneously.
• Be responsible for the overall elegance and efficiency of Alpha's final design concept, minimizing complexity while maximizing reliability and operational flexibility.
• Evaluate system-level trade-offs between performance, manufacturability, and maintainability to define robust design baselines for the entire Stellarator Design team.
• Collaborate closely with technology suppliers and partner institutions to align component-level specifications with global system requirements and integration constraints.
• Drive the development of system models that support early-stage cost estimation, reliability analysis, and operational scenario planning.
• Champion the use of reduced models and first-principles estimation to accelerate design exploration and decision-making without sacrificing accuracy.
• Establish clear documentation and communication channels to ensure that all design decisions are traceable, justified, and accessible to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Support the definition of verification and validation strategies that confirm the Alpha stellarator meets its performance, safety, and regulatory targets.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks through structured analysis, working closely with project management to align mitigation plans with critical milestones.
• Contribute to the selection and adaptation of multiphysics simulation tools, ensuring they serve the needs of system architects and field engineers alike.

Requirements

• Hold a PhD or Master's degree in physics, engineering, or a related discipline, demonstrating deep technical competence relevant to complex energy systems.
• Bring extensive experience with complex machine integration challenges, gained in fields such as aerospace, semiconductors, or Formula 1, where system-level precision is essential.
• Possess the ability to reason across various physics domains, such as Lorentz forces on coils and microwave-plasma interactions, to ensure consistent system behavior.
• Demonstrate proficiency in selecting the appropriate tool for a task, whether it is a manual calculation, custom simulation, or commercial multiphysics software, based on project needs.
• Maintain a mindset that values rapid iteration and actively incorporates feedback into the design process to accelerate progress and reduce rework.
• Produce actionable insights and clear next steps from all work, including studies, tools, and memos, ensuring that stakeholders can make informed decisions.
• Work comfortably with engineering coding practices, including version control using Git, continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, and the PyData stack for analysis and visualization.
• Exhibit strong analytical rigor, combining quantitative reasoning with practical judgment to navigate ambiguity and deliver robust architectural solutions under tight constraints.
• Communicate effectively with multidisciplinary teams, translating highly technical concepts into accessible language for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Thrive in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment where decisions have long-term consequences for technology development and commercialization timelines.
• Commit to upholding the highest standards of quality and safety in all design outputs, recognizing that errors can have significant downstream impacts on system performance and reliability.
• Align with the company's collaborative culture, contributing not only individual expertise but also actively supporting knowledge sharing and mentorship across the Stellarator Design team.
• Be prepared to engage with external partners, including research institutions and industry suppliers, to ensure that design requirements remain feasible and aligned with broader ecosystem capabilities.
• Embrace continuous learning, staying current with advances in plasma physics, manufacturing processes, and systems engineering methods relevant to next-generation fusion facilities.

Nice to have

Preferred experience with multiphysics simulation packages used in fusion or advanced energy systems.

Familiarity with the PyData stack in the context of scientific computing and data analysis for engineering applications.

Experience applying first-principles estimation and reduced modeling techniques to complex system design challenges.

Background in large-scale technology projects that require coordination across multiple disciplines and geographies.

Understanding of regulatory and standards landscapes relevant to fusion energy and high-tech hardware development.

Practical notes

Proxima Fusion is the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), backed by over €650M. The company is developing the Alpha and Stellaris machines, advancing the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator technology. The role is based in Munich and requires full-time on-site presence. Travel may be required to attend project meetings, testing facilities, or partner locations as project needs dictate. Candidates must be eligible to work in Germany and may require authorization to access secure project environments. No visa sponsorship is provided for this position. The compensation band follows the L3 framework, with final details confirmed during the recruitment process. Applications must be submitted before the specified deadline listed in the official recruitment channel.