Construction Manager at Radiant Industries (Oak Ridge, TN)Construction Manager

Radiant is an El Segundo, CA-based company building the world's only mass-produced, transportable nuclear microreactors. The U.S. grid is under growing strain, with power demand accelerating, driving higher utility costs, rising carbon emissions, and interconnection backlogs. Radiant has a solution, transportable, on-site power. Our first reactor, Kaleidos, is 1 megawatt: small enough to be factory-built, transported by land, sea, or air, and deployed wherever power is needed. 1 MW can power 1000 homes for five years. Ship it back and we refuel for a 20 year operating life. We made energy a product that can be used for critical infrastructure like military bases, data centers, hospitals, and remote sites, as well as the commercial main street businesses that keep America running. Founded in 2020, Radiant is under contract to deliver power to the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force and has signed pre-order agreements with Equinix, with deployments beginning in 2028.

We are building a first-of-kind advanced nuclear manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and are seeking a hands-on Construction Manager / Owner’s Representative to drive execution on the ground. This role is the company’s onsite decision-maker during construction, responsible for translating aggressive schedules and evolving design intent into real, built outcomes. This is a startup player-coach role, not a passive oversight position. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments, is comfortable making real-time field decisions, and can push contractors, designers, and internal teams to deliver. The role is intentionally structured to either:

• Remain focused on capital projects and future build phases, or
• Transition into a site facilities / operations leadership role after construction.

Responsibilities & Duties: Owner’s Representative & Field Execution:

• Serve as the primary onsite authority representing ownership during all phases of construction, upholding high standards of excellence for site safety and work completion.
• Maintain daily field presence, driving execution across GC(s), subcontractors, and vendors.
• Hold contractors accountable to schedule, manpower, sequencing, and quality commitments.
• Identify issues early and resolve them decisively to avoid schedule or cost impact.
• Review and manage RFIs, submittals, pay applications, and change orders with a bias toward speed and clarity.

Schedule-Driven Delivery:

• Own day-to-day schedule awareness and near-term lookahead planning.
• Leverage first principles / creative problem solving to recover lost time and protect critical path activities.
• Support cost tracking and change management with a strong understanding of trade-offs between schedule, scope, and cost.
• Ensure inspections, testing, and commissioning activities are sequenced to avoid delays.

Design Interface & Future Phases:

• Actively participate in design discussions for future construction phases, expansions, or follow-on facilities.
• Provide constructability, sequencing, and operational feedback to design teams based on real-world field conditions.
• Translate lessons learned from active construction into improved designs, scopes, and execution strategies for future phases.
• Support early planning for utilities, equipment layouts, access, maintenance, and operational flow.

Regulatory & Stakeholder Coordination:

• Interface directly with local AHJs, inspectors, and third-party reviewers.
• Coordinate closely with internal Engineering, Facilities, Operations, EHS, Security, and Regulatory teams to ensure alignment between design intent and field execution.
• Support documentation, turnover, and readiness activities required for a regulated manufacturing environment.

Transition to Operations (Optional Path):

• Drive facility turnover, commissioning, and startup readiness.
• Depending on business needs and candidate strengths, transition into a Facilities or Site Operations role owning:
• Preventive maintenance and service contracts
• Contractor oversight
• Building systems and utilities
• Continuous improvement and future expansions

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• 7+ years of experience in construction management, owner’s representation, or capital project execution for industrial or manufacturing facilities.
• Demonstrated success in onsite, field-driven roles with direct GC oversight.
• Strong command of construction sequencing, schedule control, and change management.
• Comfortable making decisions in ambiguous, fast-paced environments with limited precedent.
• Willingness to be fully onsite in Oak Ridge, TN, including weekends during active construction.

Desired Qualifications & Skills:

• Experience delivering projects in highly regulated or high-consequence environments (energy, nuclear, defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing).
• Direct involvement in design-for-construction or design-for-operations efforts.
• Background that supports long-term ownership of site facilities or future build phases.

What Success Looks Like:

• The project moves fast without losing control of scope or quality.
• Issues are resolved in the field before they escalate.
• Contractors are clear on expectations and execution standards.
• Design decisions improve with each phase based on real construction feedback.
• The facility transitions cleanly from build to operations, positioning the site for future expansion.

Additional Requirements:

• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to accomplish our mission.
• Must work 100% onsite in Oak Ridge, TN.

• Stock: Substantial incentive stock plan for all full-time employees.
• Medical: 100% up to base silver level plan for employee + 50% dependents, offers up to Platinum plans.
• One Medical: Sponsored memberships for employees and their dependents.
• Vision: 100% top tier plan coverage + 50% for dependents.
• Dental: 100% top tier plan coverage, orthodontia extra, 50% for dependents.
• Voluntary life, accident, hospital, critical illness, commuter and FSA/HSA are offered as employee contributed benefits.
• 8-weeks of paid parental leave for all parents. Additional paid pregnancy leave for CA employees.
• Nuclear Engineering Certificate Program: 100% covered educational program with Penn State University, for eligible employees, to rapidly upscale into nuclear.
• Daily catered lunch. Free snacks and drinks.
• Flexible PTO policy. Remote workday allocation.
• Company and team-bonding events, happy hours and in-person camaraderie.
• Beautiful El Segundo headquarters close to the Pacific Ocean.

Total Compensation and Benefits Radiant compensates people for impact and invests in those who continue to raise the bar. Radiant’s full-time new hire compensation package includes base salary, substantial equity grants, and comprehensive health benefits. Total compensation and level are determined through a rigorous evaluation of interview performance, experience, education, and qualifications, and are designed to support continued growth as scope, responsibility, and impact expand at Radiant.

The best of today’s advanced reactor builders don’t wait for job postings. They join the winning team. If that’s you, contact us directly for immediate opportunities: recruiting@radiantnuclear.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This position involves access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.