Senior Vice President, Operations

About this role

The Nuclear Company is the fastest growing AI tech-enabled startup in the nuclear and energy space, pioneering a fleet-scale approach to building the next generation of nuclear reactors. Through our design-once, build-many model, we're accelerating the deployment of safe, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy.

We operate with an AI-first mindset. Every employee is expected to leverage AI, technology, and the Nuclear Operating System (NOS) as integral components of their role to improve the quality, speed, and impact of their work. We expect every team member to continuously identify opportunities to automate workflows, enhance decision-making, improve processes, and contribute to the ongoing evolution of NOS as a strategic operating capability that enables The Nuclear Company to scale with excellence.

We hire people who are driven by purpose, thrive in ambiguity, and are energized by building what has never been built before. Our team combines intellectual curiosity with high agency, embraces candid feedback and continuous learning, and holds themselves and others to exceptional standards. Our values— Transparency, Responsibility, Unity, Scrappiness, and Tenacity —guide how we hire, collaborate, and make decisions every day. They are not words on a wall; they are the standard by which we operate. TRUST is the foundation of our safety culture, fostering intellectual honesty, accountability, and open communication, while our values challenge every team member to execute with urgency, humility, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to our mission.

About the role

The Senior Vice President, Operations is TNC’s fleet-level owner of nuclear plant operations from fuel load through the full operating life of each facility. This is TNC’s first operations hire and one of the most important the company will make. The person who takes this role is not joining an existing operating organization — they are building it.

TNC’s Build-Own-Operate model is only as credible as TNC’s operating capability. Investors, regulators, offtakers, and partners will assess TNC’s long-term viability based in large part on whether TNC can field a world-class operating organization. The SVP, Operations is the person who builds that organization — establishing the nuclear safety culture, the operating standards, the staffing model, and the regulatory posture that will govern TNC’s plants for decades.

This role has two equally important mandates. The first is internal — build TNC’s operating organization, receive plants from the Deployment team at fuel load, and operate them safely, reliably, and efficiently over their full licensed life. The second is external — develop and deliver operational readiness services and planning support for partners and utilities who are building their own operating organizations or planning to operate their own facilities. These two mandates reinforce each other: TNC’s internal operating excellence is the proof point that makes the external services credible.

TNC’s development-to-operations pipeline moves through three sequential phases. This role enters during the commissioning and fuel load phase — working alongside the SVP, Deployment during the handoff period — and then owns the plant from commercial operation through end of life. The fuel load handoff is not a single event; it is a managed transition with shared accountability and defined milestones.

As TNC’s organizational structure matures and the company scales, reporting lines may be adjusted to reflect evolving business needs — the scope and accountabilities of this role are not contingent on any single reporting structure.

Responsibilities

Operations Organization Build

The most urgent mandate of this role is building TNC’s operating organization before it is needed. Operating organizations take years to build, qualify, and license. The time to start is now.

• Design and build TNC’s nuclear operating organization from the ground up — defining the structure, staffing model, qualification requirements, and training program that will allow TNC to receive and operate its first plant at fuel load.

• Establish TNC’s nuclear safety culture from the first hire — the operating culture that takes root in the early days of organization-building is the culture that governs plant safety for the life of the facility. This is not a compliance exercise; it is the foundation of everything TNC does as an operator.

• Develop the operating staffing plan for TNC’s lead project — identifying the number, qualifications, and timeline for licensed and non-licensed operating staff required to support fuel load and initial commercial operations.

• Coordinate with the SVP, Regulatory Affairs, Quality & Training on the training program for TNC’s operating organization — operator qualification, simulator training, and ongoing training program development are a shared accountability between Operations and the regulatory/training function.

• Establish TNC’s operating procedures program — emergency operating procedures, abnormal operating procedures, and normal operating procedures are the foundation of licensed operations. These must be in place and validated before fuel load.

Fuel Load Handoff & Initial Operations

Receiving the plant from the Deployment team at fuel load is one of the most complex transitions in the nuclear lifecycle. The SVP, Operations owns TNC’s readiness for that transition.

• Engage during commissioning alongside the SVP, Deployment — ensuring the operating organization is ready to receive the plant, that all pre-operational testing is complete, and that the plant’s technical documentation is sufficient to support licensed operations.

• Own the fuel load readiness assessment — confirming that TNC’s operating organization, procedures, staffing, and NRC authorizations are in place before fuel load is authorized. The SVP, Operations does not accept a plant that is not ready to operate.

• Manage the NRC pre-operational

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