---
title: 'Head of Licensing & Regulation at Proxima Fusion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-licensing-regulation-proxima-fusion-munich-864haq3gwkc3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-19'
---

# Head of Licensing & Regulation at Proxima Fusion

- **Company:** Proxima Fusion
- **Location:** Munich, Germany
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-19
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/proxima-fusion/421400a5-4023-479f-bd69-b08a6249b27c

## Job description

## WHO WE ARE

Proxima Fusion is Europe’s fastest-growing fusion company and the continent’s best-funded fusion player, as well as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). Backed by over €650M and powered by a growing team across Munich, Zurich, and Oxford, we are developing the hardware and infrastructure needed to deliver the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant. Our concept advances the most mature fusion technology out there, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, through two next-generation machines: Alpha and Stellaris. Our work combines stellarator optimization, advanced computation, machine learning, and high-temperature superconducting magnets to unlock higher-performance designs that were previously out of reach. Turning these designs into a functioning fusion power plant requires excellence and ownership across every discipline, from physics and engineering to software, manufacturing, law, and business functions.

## WHY JOIN PROXIMA FUSION

- You will get to work on some of the most complex tech challenges to bring abundant, safe, clean energy to the world.
- You'll get to join and learn from an exceptional selection of accomplished and driven individuals.
- Do your life’s best work and enjoy the journey.
- Get to show that big things are possible in Europe when you assemble the best talent.

## YOUR IMPACT

- Lead Proxima Fusion’s licensing and regulatory strategy across Alpha and Stellaris.
- Define a clear and credible regulatory pathway for Alpha, Proxima’s net-energy-gain stellarator in Munich.
- Lead regulatory and site-feasibility work for Stellaris, Proxima’s first-of-a-kind fusion power plant planned at Gundremmingen with RWE.
- Translate complex and unfamiliar regulatory requirements into practical, executable plans.
- Identify licensing risks, critical dependencies, approval milestones, and potential regulatory blockers early.
- Simplify regulatory complexity and remove unnecessary obstacles from the programme.
- Build constructive relationships with regulators, public authorities, external partners, and technical experts.
- Represent Proxima in regulatory discussions and establish credibility with key decision-makers.
- Coordinate closely with engineering, finance, operations, and programme leadership.
- Ensure technical and commercial decisions are aligned with licensing requirements.
- Support site-selection, permitting, environmental, safety, and regulatory-readiness activities.
- Develop regulatory positions, submissions, evidence packages, and engagement strategies.
- Create a licensing approach that supports speed without compromising safety, quality, or credibility.
- Help demonstrate that ambitious industrial projects can be permitted and delivered quickly in Europe.
- Report directly to the COO and provide clear recommendations on regulatory strategy, risk, and progress.

## WHAT YOU WILL DO

- Own Proxima Fusion's licensing and regulatory strategy for Alpha, engaging with the relevant German federal, state, and local authorities.
- Lead the licensing and regulatory dimension of the site feasibility evaluation for Stellaris at Gundremmingen, working in close partnership with RWE.
- Identify the simplest, fastest viable path through licensing and permitting requirements, cutting bureaucratic overhead without ever compromising safety or compliance.
- Build durable, trust-based relationships with regulators, government bodies, and industry stakeholders, and represent Proxima Fusion in policy forums and industry working groups to help shape a modernized fusion regulatory framework.
- Partner closely with engineering so that facility design decisions and licensing requirements inform each other early, with finance and operations on the cost, schedule, and resourcing implications of different regulatory pathways, and with legal counsel to identify and mitigate regulatory risk.
- Build and lead a licensing and regulatory function as Proxima Fusion scales across multiple sites and jurisdictions.

## WHO YOU ARE

- Substantial experience navigating licensing and regulatory environments for complex industrial or energy infrastructure projects.
- A bias toward speed and pragmatic action, driven to prove that Europe can build fast.
- A demonstrated instinct for finding simplicity where others see only complexity, and for reducing bureaucratic friction rather than adding process.
- Comfortable and effective working directly with regulators and government bodies, building credibility and trust over time.
- Highly collaborative, with the ability to connect naturally across engineering, finance, and operations, as well as with external partners and regulators.
- An excellent communicator and relationship-builder, fluent in English, with German a strong plus.
- Experience in nuclear fission and/or fusion licensing is a plus, though not required.
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, Munich.

## INTERVIEW PROCESS

- Recruiter Interview (30-60 min)
- Technical Screening (30 min)
- Technical Panel (3x60 min)
- CEO call (30 min)

*This role sits at "L4" of our framework, please inquire during the recruitment process for further information. At Proxima Fusion, our mission is bold: making limitless clean energy a reality. To get there, we need a high-performing, diverse team that brings different perspectives, challenges assumptions, and builds together with purpose. We know that diversity of thought and experience leads to better ideas, stronger execution, and a more resilient team. We don’t look at how you identify, what you look like, who you choose to worship or what ethnicity you are. We care about what you can bring to the table.

## About Proxima Fusion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: A European fusion energy company building quasi-isodynamic stellarator power plants to deliver clean, safe, and abundant energy.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A – €130M raised in June 2025 plus €15M extension in September 2025)
- **Headquarters**: Munich, Germany (additional offices in Zürich, Switzerland and Oxford, United Kingdom)
- **Founded**: April 2023
- **Founders**: Francesco Sciortino, Lucio Milanese, Jorrit Lion, Jonathan Schilling, Martin Kubie

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Fusion energy (energy production)
- **Target customers**: Energy companies, grid operators, and technology partners (B2B / Enterprise)
- **Mission**: “Enabling human ambitions in a future with fusion energy” – providing abundant, clean, and safe energy for all.

## Products & Services
- **Alpha Demonstration Stellarator**: A prototype stellarator designed to demonstrate net energy gain in steady-state, planned for first plasma around 2031.
- **Stellaris Fusion Power Plant Concept**: A peer-reviewed, first-of-its-kind design for a commercial stellarator fusion power plant, targeting grid deployment in the late 2030s.
- **Stellarator Model Coil (SMC)**: A demonstration high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet completed to validate coil technology for Alpha and Stellaris.
- **Core Technology**: Quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator design combined with computational optimization, HTS magnets, and rapid prototyping – all leveraged from the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X experiment.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding ~€200M (≈$230M) in public and private capital, including pre-seed (€7.5M), seed (€20M), Series A (€130M + €15M extension), and additional grants from the European Innovation Council and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Plural Platform, UVC Partners, redalpine, Bayern Kapital, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Max Planck Foundation, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Visionaries Club, Wilbe. Strategic partners include the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI).
- **Growth Signals**: Team grown from founding to 100+ world-class scientists, engineers, and operators; completion of the Stellarator Model Coil; publication of the Stellaris power plant concept; convening an Industrial Development Board to scale European fusion supply chains; appointment of CFO Sergei Galperin (June 2026); integration of AI-driven design methods.

## Competitive Advantages
- **QI Stellarator approach**: Toroidal currents cancel to zero, enabling inherently stable, continuous operation without the plasma disruptions that challenge tokamaks.
- **Direct lineage from W7-X**: As the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the team builds on decades of stellarator research and the world’s most advanced stellarator experiment.
- **Simulation-first + rapid prototyping**: Combines cutting-edge computational design with HTS magnet technology to accelerate development timelines.
- **Top-tier talent pool**: Team members from Max Planck IPP, MIT, SpaceX, Tesla, McLaren, Google X, EPFL, Stanford, Cambridge, and other leading institutions.
- **Deep European ecosystem ties**: Close collaboration with public research institutes, industrial partners, and government funders.

## Strategic Focus
- **Near-term (2026–2031)**: Complete the design and construction of the Alpha demonstration stellarator, demonstrate net energy in steady-state, and advance HTS magnet technology through continued R&D.
- **Mid-term (2030s)**: Scale from Alpha to the Stellaris fusion power plant, targeting first electricity to the grid in the late 2030s.
- **Long-term**: Establish a new clean energy infrastructure by industrializing stellarator power plants and securing supply chains across Europe.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission with impact**: Tackle one of humanity’s greatest challenges – unlimited, clean, and affordable energy.
- **High-performance culture**: Described as a “professional sports team” where success depends on placing the right person in the right role with real ownership from day one.
- **Collaborative environment**: Work alongside exceptional peers from top tech, science, and engineering organizations; take on meaningful responsibility early.
- **Locations**: Offices in Munich (HQ), Zürich (PSI campus), and Oxford (Culham Campus) – likely on-site given the hands-on nature of fusion R&D.
- **Diverse disciplines**: Opportunities for engineers, scientists, operators, and business roles in a fast-growing deep-tech startup.

## Sources
1. [proximafusion.com](https://www.proximafusion.com/)
2. [proximafusion.com/about](https://www.proximafusion.com/about)
3. [proximafusion.com/careers](https://www.proximafusion.com/careers)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/proxima-fusion](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/proxima-fusion)
5. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Fusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Fusion)

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