---
title: 'Software Engineer, Plant Control at Helion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-plant-control-helion-everett-7sbtfagvcr8d'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Software Engineer, Plant Control at Helion

- **Company:** [Helion](https://feeny.ai/companies/helion)
- **Location:** Everett, WA
- **Compensation:** $185k–$240k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-03
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/helion/7c48cf04-62db-4cb8-9b7e-c23f267f45c1/application

**Skills:** React, Vue, Angular, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Real-time dashboards, Data visualization, D3.js, Plotly, Recharts, WebSockets, GraphQL, WCAG, ARIA, Accessibility standards

> Design and implement frontend interfaces for fusion machine operator tools, bridging the gap between operator workflows and software stack. The role involves prototyping real-time data visualizations, building production-ready code, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to improve operator efficiency and saf...

## Job description

## About Helion

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors including Thrive Capital, LightSpeed Venture Capital, SoftBank, and others to propel us forward. Our current prototype, Polaris, has reached record-breaking plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius (13 keV). Helion is continuing to iterate and on the path to the world's first fusion power plant, Orion.

This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.

## What You Will Be Doing

As a Software Engineer on the Plant Control team, you will help design, build, and scale the software systems that operate Helion’s fusion generators and the Orion fusion power plant. You will work across control systems, diagnostics, data infrastructure, operator interfaces, automation, and integration with electrical, mechanical, firmware, and science teams. This is a generalist software role for someone who is comfortable moving between architecture and implementation, prototypes and production systems, and high-level plant design and hands-on machine operation. You will build software that interfaces with real hardware, supports rapid engineering iteration, and helps turn experimental fusion systems into reliable power plant infrastructure. You will work onsite at our Everett, WA office. You Will

- Design, build, and maintain software for plant control, diagnostics, automation, and operator workflows
- Develop interfaces that connect distributed sensors, actuators, controllers, databases, and visualization tools
- Build reliable tools for monitoring machine health, system performance, test execution, and plant operations
- Create and improve graphical user interfaces for engineers, operators, and scientists working with fusion machines and testbeds
- Implement software that supports real-time control, data acquisition, and system coordination
- Work with Electrical Engineering, Firmware, Mechanical Engineering, IT, Operations, and Science teams to integrate software with complex hardware systems
- Improve the reliability, usability, and scalability of Helion’s internal control and diagnostic platforms
- Investigate and introduce new tools, frameworks, and infrastructure that accelerate engineering development
- Apply first-principles thinking to ambiguous technical problems where the right answer is not yet obvious

Required Skills

- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years of professional software engineering experience
- Strong programming ability in a systems programming language such as C++, Rust, or similar
- Experience with Python or another high-level scripting language
- Experience building software that interfaces with hardware, sensors, instruments, control systems, or other real-world systems
- Comfortable working in Linux environments
- Experience designing maintainable software systems, including testing, version control, debugging, and deployment practices
- Ability to work across the full software lifecycle, from requirements gathering and prototyping through production support
- Strong systems-level problem-solving skills and ability to debug issues across software, hardware, networks, and data flows
- Ability to collaborate closely with engineers and scientists from multiple disciplines
- Willingness to work onsite and stay close to the hardware, operators, and users of the systems you build

Desired Skills

- Experience with distributed control systems, industrial automation, SCADA, PLCs, or machine control
- Experience with the V-model of development, including requirements definition, verification, validation, and traceability
- Experience with precision timing, synchronization, PTP, or deterministic systems
- Experience with embedded Linux, real-time systems, or low-level systems programming
- Experience with time-series databases, data pipelines, and visualization tools such as InfluxDB, Grafana, or similar platforms
- Experience building operator interfaces, internal engineering tools, dashboards, or data-rich GUIs
- Experience with Docker, CI/CD, configuration management, or deployment automation
- Experience working in high-energy systems, aerospace, robotics, manufacturing, power systems, scientific instrumentation, or other complex hardware environments

#LI-Onsite #LI-KL1

## Benefits

Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:

- Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
- 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
- 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
- Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
- Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
- Annual wellness stipend

Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.

## About Helion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Helion is building the world’s first fusion power plant to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable baseload electricity.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G – $465M raised in 2026 at a $15.5B post-money valuation, led by Thrive Capital)
- **Headquarters**: Everett, Washington, USA (with additional facilities in Chelan County, WA)
- **Founded**: 2013
- **Founders**: David Kirtley (CEO), Anthony Pancotti, and others

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Fusion energy generation (clean energy / climate tech)
- **Target customers**: B2B – utilities, large-scale energy buyers (e.g., Microsoft, Nucor), and data center operators
- **Mission**: Build the world’s first fusion power generators to provide clean, reliable, and affordable electricity for everyone.

## Products & Services
- **Polaris**: The latest prototype fusion machine – a 19‑meter device with 50 MJ capacitor banks that demonstrated deuterium‑tritium fusion in early 2026. It is a pulsed, field‑reversed configuration (FRC) reactor designed to directly convert fusion energy into electricity (no steam turbine).
- **Orion**: The planned first commercial fusion power plant, targeting 50 MW of electricity to Microsoft data centers by 2029. Modular, factory‑built generators that can be shipped to customers.
- **HERCULES Program**: A $4M initiative funding 20 research institutions to develop enabling technologies for scaled fusion deployment.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: $15.5 B (post‑money Series G, 2026)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $465 M (Series G) plus prior rounds (undisclosed total). Annual revenue not applicable (pre‑revenue).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Sam Altman (early backer, recently stepped off board), Thrive Capital (lead Series G), Microsoft (first PPA for fusion energy), Nucor (500 MW development deal)
- **Growth Signals**: ~600 employees (up from 51‑200 in earlier years); Polaris achieved first privately‑developed DT fusion demonstration; signed first ever fusion power purchase agreement (Microsoft); expanding manufacturing capacity in Washington.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Direct energy conversion**: Helion’s pulsed FRC design recovers electricity directly from the expanding plasma at >95% efficiency, skipping the inefficient steam cycle used by most fusion concepts.
- **Pulsed approach**: The reactor pulses rapidly (sub‑second), producing fusion energy in bursts that can be synchronized to the grid, and uses solid‑state switches capable of hundreds of millions of pulses.
- **Simpler magnets**: FRC plasma is self‑confining, requiring fewer and lower‑field magnets than tokamaks or stellarators, reducing cost and complexity.
- **Fuel flexibility**: Uses deuterium and tritium (with tritium breeding planned) and ultimately can burn advanced fuels (D‑D, D‑He3) as the technology matures.

## Strategic Focus
- **Commercial deployment**: Delivering 50 MW to Microsoft by 2029 (Orion plant); scaling up manufacturing to produce modular generators in factories.
- **Technology maturation**: HERCULES program to solve tritium breeding, materials, and other enabling challenges; advancing Polaris toward net electricity generation.
- **Partnership growth**: Expanding power purchase agreements and development deals with industrial and tech customers to meet surging demand (especially AI data centers).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Urgency, rigor, ownership, and hard truths” – a mission‑driven environment focused on solving the hardest problems in fusion engineering.
- **Work**: Hands‑on with real hardware (capacitors, magnets, plasma diagnostics) across mechanical, electrical, and physics disciplines.
- **Location**: Based in the Pacific Northwest (Everett & Chelan County) with immediate access to skiing, hiking, and water sports.
- **Benefits**: Premier medical/vision/dental (fully employer‑paid options), HSA contributions, wellness stipend, 5% 401(k) match, stock options, up to 12 weeks paid parental leave + 4 weeks for birthing parents, 21 vacation days, 10 sick days, 11 holidays + winter break.
- **Hybrid/Remote**: Not explicitly stated; roles appear to be on‑site in Washington (given the hardware‑focused nature).
- **Open Roles**: Engineers (mechanical, electrical, simulation, controls), magnet analysts, experimental scientists, technicians, machinists – over 100 positions listed.

## Sources
1. [helionenergy.com](https://www.helionenergy.com/) – Company overview, funding, technology, updates
2. [helionenergy.com/careers](https://www.helionenergy.com/careers) – Careers page, values, benefits
3. [helionenergy.com/careers/open-positions](https://www.helionenergy.com/careers/open-positions) – Current job listings
4. [scientificamerican.com](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/helion-energy-is-building-a-fusion-power-plant-can-its-technology-deliver/) – In‑depth profile, 600 employees, Microsoft PPA, Polaris details
5. [indeed.com](https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Helion-Energy?campaignid=mobvjcmp&from=mobviewjob&fromjk=9e3fd74c2e72805f&tk=1jrv4ci0di9cp800) – Company size, revenue, 108 jobs

## Other roles at Helion

- [Senior Materials Chemist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-materials-chemist-helion-everett-4hpqc9dht1yt) — Everett, WA
- [Corporate Communications Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/corporate-communications-specialist-helion-seattle-rh1tjaqp01c0) — Seattle, WA
- [Manufacturing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineer-helion-everett-2151ykfwt769) — Everett, WA
- [Senior Manufacturing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manufacturing-engineer-helion-everett-ajdszzvj4trq) — Everett, WA
- [Manager, Electrical Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-electrical-engineering-helion-everett-xc30n5x0s4vt) — Everett, WA
- [Principal Applied Plasma Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-applied-plasma-data-scientist-helion-everett-33tnj2pdtxam) — Everett, WA
- [Senior Applied Plasma Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-applied-plasma-data-scientist-helion-everett-ymgakadsjxcf) — Everett, WA
- [Senior Manager, Software Engineering, Plant Control](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-software-engineering-plant-control-helion-everett-sd9dj8ccv09g) — Everett, WA
- [Senior Mechanical Engineer, Modules](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechanical-engineer-modules-helion-everett-gjm44e4kmfp7) — Everett, WA
- [Procurement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/procurement-manager-helion-everett-evs4m7chjx18) — Everett, WA