---
title: 'Tritium Fuel Cycle Lead at Proxima Fusion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/tritium-fuel-cycle-lead-proxima-fusion-munich-hs84z8343hn9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Tritium Fuel Cycle Lead at Proxima Fusion

- **Company:** Proxima Fusion
- **Location:** Munich, Germany
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/proxima-fusion/f12bed38-5c40-4d18-9215-f266b9b9c7e3/application

**Skills:** Fusion fuel cycles, Tritium gas exhaust processing, Tritium separation, Tritium storage, Tritium accountancy, Tritium containment, Simulations, Testing, Prototyping, First principles modeling

> Lead the design, integration, and specification of tritium fuel cycle systems for Proxima's Alpha stellarator. Own industry contracts, develop tritium accountancy frameworks, and technically lead first-principles modeling and prototyping to ensure system performance and safety.

## 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 the design and integration of the tritium fuel cycle systems for Alpha, Proxima's scientific breakeven stellarator
- Apply deep tritium equipment expertise to ensure Alpha can be built, operated, and meet its performance goals on Proxima's timelines
- Foster strong supplier collaborations to deliver critical fuel cycle systems

## WHAT YOU WILL DO

- Lead the specification of the tritium fuel cycle equipment required to operate the Alpha stellarator including exhaust gas processing, tritium storage, tritium accountancy and tritium fueling.
- Own and develop the industry contracts and partnerships required to deliver the Alpha fuel cycle.
- Develop and lead on tritium accountancy in Alpha including quantification of tritium permeation and retention; and its impact on the Alpha plant and program.
- Technically lead first principles reasoning, modelling, tests and prototyping to detail and validate the design of the Alpha fuel cycle system.
- Provide expert input to the Alpha safety case related to tritium containment best practice.
- Build an innovative and inclusive team within Proxima and strong collaborations with external suppliers, to achieve the ambitious Alpha milestones.

## WHO YOU ARE

- Visionary team player with the ability to lead internal and external work packages within multidisciplinary technical teams in fast-paced, dynamic settings.
- Deep understanding of fusion fuel cycles, with knowledge of tritium gas exhaust processing, separation, storage, accountancy and containment.
- Proven success in procuring and commissioning tritium equipment.
- Experience developing and owning tritium accountancy frameworks, including quantification of permeation and retention.
- Experience validating fuel cycles systems through a combination of simulations, testing, and prototyping.

## INTERVIEW PROCESS

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

*This role sits at "LvL 4 out of 6" 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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