Project Quality Lead

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for a Project Quality Lead to supervise and lead project quality assurance and quality control activities and help ensure that engineering, procurement, construction, inspection, testing, and turnover work is performed with the rigor, discipline, and practical quality controls needed to deliver safe and reliable projects.

Position Description

The Project Quality Lead will provide day-to-day leadership and technical direction for the implementation and execution of Oklo's project Quality Assurance Program in accordance with ASME NQA-1, ANSI/ANS-15.8, applicable contractual and regulatory requirements, and Oklo procedures. This role will supervise and coordinate project quality specialists, inspectors, and assigned quality resources; lead audits, surveillances, and assessments; and maintain oversight of quality assurance and quality control activities across engineering, procurement, supplier activities, construction, inspection, testing, commissioning, and project turnover. The successful candidate will be a qualified NQA-1 Lead Auditor and a hands-on quality leader who can plan work, review technical deliverables, mentor personnel, resolve complex quality issues, and partner effectively with project and EPC leadership in both office and field environments.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Lead the implementation, maintenance, assessment, and continuous improvement of the project Quality Assurance Program and oversee assigned quality control activities in accordance with ASME NQA-1, ANSI/ANS-15.8, applicable project requirements, and Oklo procedures.
• Provide day-to-day supervision, technical direction, work planning, prioritization, mentoring, and performance feedback for Project Quality Specialists, inspectors, and other assigned quality personnel, and verify that work is completed accurately, consistently, and on schedule.
• Interpret quality, contractual, technical, regulatory, and code requirements and approve their translation into practical project controls, procedures, work instructions, inspection plans, acceptance criteria, quality requirement matrices, and hold or witness points.
• Lead the development, implementation, and maintenance of project quality plans, inspection and test plans, surveillance plans, audit schedules, inspection checklists, quality staffing plans, and risk-based oversight strategies for engineering, procurement, construction, testing, and turnover activities.
• Lead or participate in design, constructability, and readiness reviews to verify that quality requirements, design inputs, interfaces, field changes, as-built conditions, configuration controls, inspection needs, and records requirements are adequately addressed and implemented.
• Oversee quality reviews of procurement specifications, requisitions, purchase orders, and subcontracts to ensure appropriate quality clauses, technical requirements, supplier qualification, source inspection, documentation, and records requirements are included and effectively flowed down.
• Coordinate supplier and subcontractor quality activities, including qualification, evaluation, audits, surveys, source surveillances, performance monitoring, issue resolution, and escalation, in partnership with Procurement, Engineering, Supplier Quality, and project leadership.
• Review and approve quality evaluations of supplier and subcontractor submittals, quality plans, procedures, inspection records, material certifications, certificates of conformance, test reports, and final data packages for completeness and compliance.
• Direct field quality assurance oversight and quality control verification of EPC contractors and subcontractors performing civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation and controls work, including earthwork, concrete, structural steel, welding, piping, equipment installation, cable installation, and system construction.
• Plan, assign, oversee, and when needed perform source, receiving, in-process, construction, and final inspections; witness tests; review inspection and test results; verify objective evidence; and confirm that items and completed work meet approved drawings, specifications, procedures, codes, and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure appropriate controls are implemented for special processes, including personnel qualifications, approved procedures, material traceability, environmental conditions, calibrated measuring and test equipment, welding, nondestructive examination, heat treatment, and concrete placement and testing, as applicable.
• Establish priorities and oversight expectations for construction work packages, field activities, requests for information, design changes, inspection results, punch-list items, and quality control documentation, and ensure conditions adverse to quality are promptly identified, controlled, communicated, and escalated.
• Provide technical review and approval of nonconformance reports, deviations, corrective actions, and related quality issues; coordinate technical dispositions, root cause evaluations, extent-of-condition reviews, and effectiveness verifications; and confirm approved dispositions are properly implemented.
• Serve as Lead Auditor for project audits of internal organizations, EPC contractors, suppliers, and subcontractors; develop audit plans and checklists, lead audit teams and opening and closing meetings, evaluate objective evidence, document results, and verify timely and effective closure of findings and observations.
• Lead project surveillances, assessments, field inspections, and quality performance reviews; identify adverse trends and systemic issues; and communicate significant quality risks, resource needs, and recommended actions to project and quality leadership.
• Ensure quality assurance records, quality control inspection records, and construction completion documentation are complete, legible, accurate, traceable, and retrievable, and oversee the assembly, review, acceptance, and turnover of final project records and data packages.
• Lead efforts to prevent and identify counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect items and ensure potential concerns are controlled, evaluated, documented, escalated, and reported in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Develop and present quality assurance and quality control metrics, inspection status reports, audit results, trend analyses, and project quality updates, and provide practical guidance and training that strengthens quality ownership across Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Project Management, contractors, and suppliers.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3+ years of quality assurance, quality control, quality engineering, inspection, construction, or related experience in nuclear energy, Department of Energy work, EPC projects, or another highly regulated, technically complex environment.
• Working knowledge of ASME NQA-1 and/or ANSI/ANS-15.8 and demonstrated ability to apply quality assurance and quality control requirements to engineering, procurement, construction, inspection, testing, or project execution activities.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, quality, physical science, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, technical training, and relevant experience.
• Experience reviewing drawings, specifications, procedures, procurement documents, inspection and test plans, construction work packages, supplier documentation, and objective quality evidence.
• Experience personally performing field inspections and supporting surveillances, audits, nonconformance control, corrective action, and quality records activities.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently in an active project or construction environment, exercise sound judgment, manage competing priorities, and communicate quality concerns clearly and professionally.
• Ability to work on-site in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and travel to supplier, contractor, or other project locations as business needs require.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience supporting nuclear facility construction, research reactor or advanced reactor projects, fuel-cycle facilities, or Department of Energy nuclear projects.
• Experience working directly with an EPC contractor through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, turnover, and project closeout.
• Qualification or certification as an NQA-1 auditor or lead auditor, ASQ Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Quality Engineer, or Certified Quality Inspector, or a construction inspection certification such as AWS CWI, ACI, ICC, NICET, or equivalent.
• Familiarity with 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, 10 CFR Part 21, DOE Order 414.1D, commercial grade dedication, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, AWS codes, ACI 318/349, or other codes and standards used in nuclear construction.
• Experience with electronic quality management systems, construction management systems, document control platforms, inspection databases, and digital turnover or completion management tools.

Competencies

We are looking for a high-energy quality professional who has a thorough understanding of:

• ASME NQA-1 and ANSI/ANS-15.8 quality assurance and quality control principles, including organization, design control, procurement document control, instructions and procedures, document control, item control, special processes, inspection, test control, measuring and test equipment, nonconformance control, corrective action, records, and audits.
• The EPC project lifecycle and how quality requirements are planned, flowed down, verified, documented, and closed across engineering, procurement, supplier fabrication, construction, testing, commissioning, and turnover.
• Construction quality assurance, quality control, and inspection practices for civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation and controls work, including the use of inspection and test plans, inspection checklists, hold points, witness points, acceptance criteria, and objective evidence.
• Procurement and supplier quality controls, including supplier qualification, purchase-order quality clauses, source inspection and surveillance, material traceability, receipt inspection, supplier documentation, and final data packages.
• Reading and interpreting engineering drawings, specifications, codes, standards, construction work packages, test procedures, and acceptance criteria, and recognizing when field conditions require engineering or quality review.
• Nonconformance control, corrective action, root cause analysis, extent of condition, effectiveness review, trending, and the disciplined escalation of conditions adverse to quality.
• Audit and surveillance practices, quality records, document control, configuration management, change control, and the maintenance of traceable and retrievable project documentation.
• Clear field communication, professional challenge, cross-functional collaboration, training, and the ability to influence employees, contractors, suppliers, and project leaders without direct authority.
• Using software and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel, Google Workspace, Jira, Confluence, electronic QMS platforms, construction management systems, document management systems, and data visualization tools.

Who you are:

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won’t enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.

Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn’t about a fake or arbitrary “pieces of flair” mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren’t about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren’t about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

 

About Oklo travel requirements:

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites, and other company events or gatherings. For the first two weeks of onboarding, employees are required to be in person at headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

 

About Oklo compensation:

Salary: $80,000-$120,000

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, bonuses, competitive pay, 401(k), health insurance (with employer contribution), HSA, FSA, flexible work hours, wellness credits, and other benefits.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Only applicants who meet the definition of a U.S. person under applicable laws may be eligible.

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About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.

#CHOP: Oklo’s Values
Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through  to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.