# Fluid Dynamics Engineer - Company: [Fuse]() - Location: San Leandro, California - Team: Engineering / Technical Ops\. - Employment type: Full Time - Salary: $110K – $160K - Posted: August 19, 2026 ## Job description ## **About Fuse** We are building one of the most potentially consequential companies of the century. Our mission is to accelerate the world's transition to fusion energy while safeguarding humankind. This is not a normal company. This is not a normal job. We are committed for the long term to win. ## **About the Role** Fuse is designing and constructing Z-Star, a next-generation pulsed-power accelerator requiring the management, recirculation, filtration, and conditioning of multi-million-liter volumes of high-voltage transformer oil and deionized (DI) water. As the Fluid Dynamics Engineer, you'll lead the design, simulation, and operational integration of these large-scale fluid systems from concept through commissioning. ## **Core Responsibilities** * System Design: Design and develop large-scale fluid circuits for storing, transporting, recirculating, and reconditioning millions of liters of transformer dielectric oil and deionized water, including pump selection, piping layout, filtration trains, heat exchangers, and storage-tank configuration. * CFD Simulation: Build and run high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics models of oil and DI-water flow paths to optimize circulation rates, identify cavitation or turbulence risks, and ensure dielectric integrity under operational conditions. * Dielectric Fluid Management: Develop and maintain fluid-quality protocols including oil breakdown-voltage testing, moisture-content control, and particle filtration, consistent with high-voltage pulsed-power standards. * DI Water Conditioning: Design and oversee the mixed-resin-bed ion-exchange system to maintain DI-water resistivity, dissolved-gas content, and temperature within operational limits. * Thermal Analysis: Perform thermohydraulic analyses to quantify heat loads from repeated pulsed discharges and design cooling strategies that maintain fluid properties within required dielectric specifications. * P&ID and Documentation: Develop Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs), system schematics, bills of materials, and operational procedures for all fluid subsystems. * Commissioning and Troubleshooting: Support fabrication, testing, and commissioning of fluid systems on-site; diagnose and resolve operational anomalies during early shot campaigns. * Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Work closely with pulsed-power, high-voltage, structural, and vacuum engineering teams to ensure fluid-system integration with electrode geometry, transmission lines, and chamber design. ## **Minimum Qualifications** * B.Sc.or M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Applied Physics with a strong fluid-mechanics concentration. * Demonstrated experience with commercial or open-source CFD tools such as ANSYS Fluent, ANSYS CFX, OpenFOAM, or COMSOL Multiphysics. * 2+ years designing or operating large-scale industrial fluid systems including pumps, filters, heat exchangers, and piping networks in energy, nuclear, defense, or high-voltage environments. * Familiarity with transformer oil or similar dielectric insulating fluids, including properties, degradation mechanisms, filtration, and electrical testing. * Strong command of convective and forced-flow heat transfer for system-level thermal management. ## **Preferred Qualifications** * Experience with deionized-water systems, ion-exchange resin beds, degassing, and resistivity monitoring in high-voltage or pulsed-power environments. * Knowledge of pulsed power, particle accelerators, fusion energy, or high-energy-density physics facilities. * Knowledge of ASME piping codes, industrial safety standards, and high-voltage facility regulations. * Proficiency in Python for post-processing simulation data and automating fluid-quality reporting. ## **What We Value** * Give a shit. Build things you're proud of. * Take responsibility. If something is broken and you can fix it, fix it. See things through. * Move fast. Make decisions, learn quickly, and keep moving forward. * Think bigger. Simplify relentlessly. Don't default to the safe answer. * Disagree and commit. The best idea wins. Once a decision is made, we move. * Desire to win. This is hard. Expect intensity. We are here to win. * Plan B is to make Plan A work. ## **Additional Requirements** This is not a remote position and will require relocation if not already local to the applicable Fuse facility. ## **Benefits** * Medical, dental, and vision coverage. * Relocation assistance for roles that require it. * Flexible time off. Take what you need, no accrual tracking. * 2 weeks of paid time off built into the end of each year, subject to team and business needs. * Supportive leave of absence policies. * Paid leave for new parents. ## ## **ITAR Requirements** To conform to U.S. Government technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. ## **Equal Opportunity** Fuse is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Fuse is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, ancestry, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. ## Apply [Apply on Fuse]() Canonical job page: