Senior Simulation Engineer, Computational Physics

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. BY JOINING OUR TEAM YOU’LL GET TO - Shape the architecture of the world’s first commercial fusion power plant – Own system-level decisions that determine how a first-of-a-kind energy technology is designed, integrated, and ultimately deployed at scale. - Solve some of the most complex engineering challenges – Work across tightly coupled disciplines (plasma physics, magnets, cryogenics, manufacturing, controls, and more) to resolve critical trade-offs and turn cutting-edge science into a functioning product. - Design real hardware with a pragmatic, fast-moving team from all over the world – Combine advanced simulation and systems thinking with a strong execution mindset, focusing on practical engineering solutions that accelerate the path to commercial fusion energy. 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 Alpha will be the first stellarator to demonstrate net energy. Achieving this milestone requires building a deeply coupled machine, where plasma, magnets, structures, cryogenics, and heating work at the edge of each discipline’s capability. You will own a selected set of the models, stretching over domains, e.g. microwave physics to plasma radiation.These models will be used by the design team to compute load cases, assess system-level tradeoffs, perform numerical optimization, and simulate the whole machine as a single system. You will own these models end-to-end, from definitions of inputs and outputs, to implementation correctness, and software efficiency. WHAT YOU WILL DO - Identify and implement the simulators. Depending on the simulation needs, you will implement a simulator from scratch or wrap an existing tool into our platform, and make sure the model is properly interfaced with our codebase. - Co-define the input and output interfaces. Work together with the engineering teams to update the data model for input and output to ensure it captures correctly the relevant design specifications. - Ensure correctness. Ensure simulation pipelines are tested, verified, validated and work correctly as the design evolves. Where needed, help scoping and contribute to validation in hardware tests. - Exercise the models. Support the integrated design team with dedicated studies to inform design tradeoffs. - Expose simulators as a service to humans and agents. Create dashboard, online tools, and interactive reports to visualize model prediction and uncertainties and explore the model behaviour, that can be easily used by the entire Alpha design team. WHO YOU ARE - Your knowledge ranges across physics, geometry, and numerical methods. You feel comfortable jumping into the complex 3D geometry of a stellarator and the many physics phenomena happening in a stellarator. - You have technical qualifications and experience. You hold a PhD or Master's in physics, engineering, or an adjacent field, and you have built simulation tools encompassing numerical algorithms, geometry, and physics. - You build in code like a software engineer. You are familiar with git, CI/CD, the PyData stack, autodifferentiation packages (like JAX or PyTorch), and you have built real tools, not just scripts. - You choose tools appropriately. Given a simulation need, you reach for the most appropriate tool, being a simple simulator or a commercial multiphysics package. - You're proactive. You find the gap before it becomes a problem, prioritize effectively, and argue for the next step. INTERVIEW PROCESS - Recruiter Interview (30-60 min) - Technical Screening (30 min) - Technical Panel (3x60 min) *This role sits at PF3 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.