---
title: 'Senior Cloud DevOps Engineer at Valar Atomics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-cloud-devops-engineer-valar-atomics-torrance-e1wr99kyfd5a'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Senior Cloud DevOps Engineer at Valar Atomics

- **Company:** Valar Atomics
- **Location:** Torrance, CA
- **Compensation:** $165k–$190k
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/valaratomics/jobs/4384996009

## Job description

## About Valar Atomics

At Valar Atomics, we're redefining what's possible in energy. Our mission is to make clean, high-temperature nuclear power scalable—unlocking abundant energy for industry, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe nuclear energy should be fast to deploy, factory-made, and built for the real world. Our first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah will demonstrate how advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication can power the future. Joining Valar Atomics means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level.

The Team

As part of the Business organization, IT & Enterprise Software delivers the technology infrastructure, enterprise applications, and digital tools that power Valar's operations. The team ensures secure, reliable, and scalable technology solutions that support every function across the company.

## The Role

Valar Atomics is looking for an experienced Cloud DevOps Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable, secure, and highly available infrastructure primarily in AWS, with additional support for workloads in Azure. The ideal candidate has hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, CI/CD pipeline design, GitHub Enterprise, and Terraform, and thrives in a fast-paced environment where automation and reliability are top priorities.

You'll work closely with software engineering, security, and platform teams to streamline deployments, improve system observability, and drive infrastructure-as-code best practices across the organization.

This position is fully on-site at our Torrance, CA location. Relocation assistance is not available.

## Key Responsibilities

- AWS: Design, implement, and maintain cloud infrastructure primarily on AWS (EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, RDS, Lambda, EKS, etc.), with secondary support for Azure services
- Kubernetes: Build, manage, and optimize Kubernetes clusters (EKS and/or AKS) for containerized workloads, including scaling, networking, and security configurations
- CI/CD: Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate build, test, and deployment processes across multiple environments
- GitHub Enterprise: Manage source control workflows, branch policies, and repository administration
- Terraform: Write, maintain, and review Terraform modules to provision and manage infrastructure as code across cloud providers
- Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions to ensure system reliability and rapid incident response (e.g., CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor)
- Collaborate with development teams to improve deployment velocity, reduce lead time, and support GitOps practices
- Enforce and improve cloud security best practices, including IAM policies, secrets management, and compliance standards
- Troubleshoot production issues across cloud infrastructure, container orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines
- Participate in on-call rotation and incident response as needed
- Document infrastructure architecture, runbooks, and operational procedures
- Continuously evaluate and recommend new tools, technologies, and processes to improve system reliability and developer experience

## Basic Qualifications

- 5+ years of experience in a DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or Cloud Infrastructure Engineering role
- AWS: Strong hands-on experience with core services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, RDS, EKS, Lambda, CloudFormation, etc.)
- Azure: Working knowledge (AKS, Azure DevOps, VNets, Azure AD, etc.)
- Kubernetes: Solid experience administering and troubleshooting clusters in production environments
- CI/CD: Proven experience building and maintaining pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar)
- GitHub Enterprise: Hands-on experience including repository management, branch protection, and access controls
- Terraform: Strong proficiency for infrastructure-as-code, including module design and state management
- Proficiency in scripting languages such as Bash, Python, or Go
- Solid understanding of networking concepts (DNS, load balancing, VPNs, firewalls)
- Experience with containerization technologies (Docker) and container registries
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, Datadog, or similar)
- Strong understanding of security best practices in cloud environments (IAM, secrets management, least privilege access)

## Preferred Skills and Experience

- Relevant certifications (AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Azure Administrator/DevOps Engineer Expert)
- Prior military service in US Air Force or Navy, particularly in communications, networking, cybersecurity, IT, or other technical fields, is highly valued. Relevant military training and operational experience will be considered alongside civilian industry experience.
- Experience with GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Flux)
- Experience with service mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd)
- Familiarity with policy-as-code tools (OPA, Sentinel)
- Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)
- Background in software development or systems engineering

## What We Offer

- Competitive base salary
- Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company
- Comprehensive medical benefits
- Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite
- Generous PPE stipend
- High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy
- Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement
- Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders
- The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

## Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Valar Atomics is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder). Salary $165,000—$190,000 USD

## About Valar Atomics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Valar Atomics is scaling nuclear energy through grid-independent, high-temperature gas reactors (HTGR) for hydrogen production, data center power, heavy industrial power, and clean hydrocarbon fuel synthesis.
- **Entity Type**: Private (total funding $494M–$600.5M, latest round Debt - II)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, United States (additional location in Orangeville, Utah)
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Not publicly listed (key executives include President Muhammad Shahzad and CNO Mark Mitchell)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Nuclear energy / advanced nuclear reactor technology
- **Target customers**: Large-scale industrial users (hydrogen producers, data centers, heavy industry), grid-independent operations, and fuel synthesis plants (B2B, Enterprise)
- **Mission or purpose**: “Nuclear needs scale” – unlock economies of scale by building hundreds of reactors on Valar gigasites, divorcing industrial power from the traditional grid.

## Products & Services
- **[Ward 250 Reactor]**: A grid-independent HTGR using TRISO fuel, designed for high-volume, non-bespoke production. Achieved criticality in June 2026 under DOE’s pilot program. Product type: Hardware (nuclear reactor).
- **[Hydrogen Production]**: Reactors paired with a sulfur-iodine cycle process to produce cheap, abundant hydrogen. Product type: Industrial energy product.
- **[Data Center Power]**: Dedicated on-site nuclear power for AI data centers, targeting AI’s projected 200+ TWh additional demand by 2030. Product type: Service / infrastructure.
- **[Heavy Industrial Power]**: Grid-independent power for processes like green steel and bauxite electrolysis. Product type: Service / infrastructure.
- **[Clean Hydrocarbon Fuels]**: Combines cheap hydrogen with captured CO₂ via a modified Fischer-Tropsch process to create synthetic fuels. Product type: Fuel product.
- **[Modular Citadel Shielding]**: Pre-cast, self-tensioning shielding system for mass-manufactured reactor protection. Production line capable of 1,000+ blocks per year. Product type: Hardware component.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (CB Insights shows valuation as hidden)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding reported as $494M (LinkedIn) or $600.5M (CB Insights, conflicting reports); latest round debt financing in November 2025.
- **Notable Investors**: Palmer Luckey, Shyam Sankar, Day One Ventures, DTX Ventures, Contrary, Riot Ventures (led Seed), Snowpoint Ventures (led Series A), and 28+ others.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of 74 employees (+232% YoY, +9.6% monthly); 30 active job postings; Ward 250 reactor achieved criticality in June 2026; partnerships with DOE, San Rafael Energy Research Center, and State of Utah; opened first nuclear site (San Rafael) in February 2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven HTGR design** with unmatched safety profile and proliferation resistance when paired with TRISO fuel.
- **Grid-independent “gigasite” model** that avoids traditional grid constraints, enabling mass manufacturing of standardized reactors.
- **Vertical integration**: In-house design of reactors, fuel processing (sulfur-iodine cycle), and shielding systems (Modular Citadel).
- **Speed to market**: Ward 250 is on track for power operations before July 4, 2026, under a DOE mandate.
- **Talent base**: Attracts engineers from Ultra Safe Nuclear, X-energy, Anduril, and other advanced hardware companies.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale manufacturing**: Transition from project-based nuclear to high-volume production through gigasites.
- **Achieve operational milestones**: Achieve hot criticality and power operation at Ward 250 by mid-2026.
- **Expand product lines**: Deliver grid-independent hydrogen, data center power, and synthetic fuels to meet industrial and AI energy demands.
- **Grow headcount rapidly**: Aggressively hiring in engineering, operations, quality, and technical roles.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: “Hardware is the only thing that counts” – emphasis on building real reactors, not just pitching.
- **High growth environment**: Company doubled headcount in the past year; roles offer significant ownership and impact.
- **Locations**: Hawthorne (CA), El Segundo (CA), Orangeville (UT), and Huntington (UT) – roles span design, manufacturing, and field operations.
- **Work style**: Likely on-site/hybrid for technical roles (e.g., Build Engineer, Nuclear Operations Manager, Machinist).
- **Perks & culture**: Rapid advancement opportunities, exposure to cutting-edge nuclear and chemical engineering, and a team with deep ties to defense and deep-tech.
- **Current openings**: 30+ roles including mechanical engineers, plant operators, quality engineers, finance systems engineers, and technical recruiters.

## Sources
1. [valaratomics.com](https://valaratomics.com/)
2. [Greenhouse careers](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/valaratomics)
3. [CB Insights](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/valar-atomics)
4. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/valar-atomics)

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