VP Nuclear Island Development

About Blykalla Blykalla is a global leader in advanced nuclear technology, commercialising the next generation of clean, reliable energy through its lead-cooled reactor, the SEALER. By combining decades of specialised research with world-class partners, Blykalla is building the backbone of the global AI and industrial economy. For more information, visit https://www.blykalla.com. The role We are developing a first-of-a-kind lead-cooled nuclear reactor, and we want it built as a product—not a one-off project. You will lead the development of the Nuclear Island, transforming an emerging reactor technology into a licensable, manufacturable, modular and repeatable product ready for fleet deployment. This is a product development role, not a project execution role. You will lead the departments responsible for Core Design, Reactor Systems, Mechanical Design, Fluids and Thermal Hydraulics, Safety Analysis, Licensing Engineering and Reactor Technology Development. You are accountable for the integrated development of the Nuclear Island, ensuring that product architecture, analysis, testing, qualification, manufacturing and regulatory substantiation form one coherent development process. Reporting to the SVP Engineering, you work closely with the Director of Power Plant Development to ensure efficient plant integration and continuous improvement across reactor generations. What you own Product development and modularisation Own the technical quality, maturity and development of the complete Nuclear Island. Develop a modular product architecture with clear system boundaries, standardised interfaces and reusable modules, enabling parallel development, independent testing, factory assembly and predictable integration. Balance safety and performance with manufacturability, transportability, installation, maintainability and lifecycle cost. Nuclear engineering excellence Ensure technical excellence across reactor physics, safety analysis, thermal hydraulics, shielding, criticality, computational methods and nuclear data. Maintain the technical expertise and quality needed to support sound product decisions, safety cases, licensing and regulatory review. Product and technology roadmap Define development stages, maturity gates, qualification strategies, integrated test programmes, design freezes and product evolution. Apply structured TRL and MRL approaches while knowing when further analysis is needed and when it is time to build, test and learn. Identify technical uncertainty early, retire risk systematically and stop development that does not create sufficient value. Testing, qualification and licensing Build testing and qualification into the development process from the beginning. Use prototypes, test articles, rigs and full-scale demonstrators to validate design assumptions, qualify technology and reduce manufacturing and commissioning risk. Ensure that the Nuclear Island provides the technical substantiation required for the safety case and licensing. Treat regulatory requirements as product requirements and design inputs—not as a separate documentation exercise. Industrialisation and deployment Lead the Nuclear Island through prototype testing, manufacturing, first-article qualification, installation, commissioning and first criticality. Engage strategic suppliers and manufacturing partners early to ensure production capabilities shape development decisions. Lead the transition from engineering to manufacturing, preparing the product for efficient, repeatable fleet deployment. Engineering organisation Build and lead the Nuclear Island Development organisation. Recruit ahead of need, develop strong technical leaders and create an engineering culture focused on learning, accountability, technical excellence and delivery. Establish clear ownership of modules, systems and interfaces while maintaining accountability for the integrated Nuclear Island. Own its configuration baseline and balance safety, performance, modularity, manufacturability, schedule and cost together with Power Plant Development. What you've done You have taken at least one complex, safety-critical hardware product from early development through industrialisation—such as a reactor, aircraft, launch vehicle, turbomachinery product or similar. You also bring:

• 15+ years developing hardware in heavily regulated industries, including 10+ years leading engineering organisations or major development programmes.
• Experience developing modular product architectures with clearly defined system boundaries and interfaces.
• Experience working under a demanding regulator, certification authority or customer with rigorous technical and safety requirements—such as the NRC, FAA, EASA, DOE, NASA, ESA or equivalent—and delivering the technical substantiation required for approval.
• Experience leading stage-gated development using TRL and MRL discipline, combined with the judgement to adapt or accelerate the process when appropriate.
• Direct responsibility for transitioning a product into manufacturing—not simply handing drawings over to a factory or supplier.
• An engineering degree and sufficient technical depth to challenge your technical leaders in their respective fields, including reactor physics, safety analysis and thermal hydraulics once you are up to speed.

Strong advantages

• Nuclear industry experience, ideally from a reactor programme that was licensed, built and reached first criticality.
• Knowledge of ASME Section III, NQA-1 and the 10 CFR framework.
• Experience developing and industrialising FOAK hardware.
• Experience using modularisation to enable factory assembly, supply-chain scalability and efficient deployment.
• Experience building and growing engineering organisations.
• Experience from aerospace, space, turbomachinery, oil and gas, advanced process industries or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.

Who you are

• Product-minded rather than project-minded.
• You optimize for the fleet, not only the next milestone.
• You treat safety and regulatory requirements as design drivers.
• Comfortable making technical decisions with incomplete information while remaining explicit about risks and assumptions.
• You know when analysis has answered the question and when it is time to build, test and learn.
• You are more interested in building a test article than writing another study.
• Direct, pragmatic and clear in both writing and meetings.

Why this role Few engineering leaders get the opportunity to transform a new reactor technology into a modular, industrialised and repeatable commercial product. You will build the organisation, shape the product architecture and define the development system that future reactor generations will build upon. The role is based at our headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and we support relocation.