Plasma Material Interaction Engineer

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.

TEAM AND ROLE

• 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 in industry – 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.

• Build 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

Working with us, you have the chance to:

• Translate state-of-the-art numerical tools directly into hardware design decisions with reactor-scale consequences.

• Contribute to the European initiative leading the critical path to a fusion power plant.

• Work alongside talented, mission-driven experts in a supportive, ambitious environment that is building real devices, not just reactor concepts

YOUR IMPACT

In a fusion reactor, the plasma-facing components – divertor targets, first wall panels, and baffles – are the first line of defense against extreme heat and particle loads, requiring them to endure complex plasma-surface interactions. Developing materials and component solutions that withstand these conditions is one of the most significant challenges in fusion science and engineering, determining device lifetime, maintainability, and overall viability.

As a Plasma-Facing Materials engineer at Proxima, you will lead efforts to model, understand, and validate the performance of PFC materials and assemblies under reactor-relevant conditions. Your work will directly inform the operational window of Proxima’s future stellarators. The work will span both detailed plasma-material interaction simulation, building towards full physics assessments of Tungsten migration, as well as targeted experimental validation of material architectures to ensure that PFC designs meet demanding reliability and engineering criteria.

This role offers a rare opportunity to directly influence the design and qualification of components at the heart of a commercial stellarator. Your work will determine how long Proxima’s core components last, how clean our plasma remains, and how economically our power plant can operate.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Own the solution to critical plasma-material engineering challenges that govern the lifetime and optimal performance of steady state fusion reactors.

• Define and advance the impurity migration and plasma material interaction modeling framework used for specifying reactor-relevant stellarator exhaust solutions.

• Work closely with engineers to ensure that net erosion and core impurity contamination from plasma facing components, particularly the divertor and first wall, are compatible with intended reactor relevant operational scenarios.

• Lead development, validation and application of advanced edge physics models for plasma material interaction studies in order to guide the divertor subsystem and first wall design.

• Quantify plasma-surface interaction constraints to ensure plasma-facing components remain within engineering limits.

• Collaborate with academic partners to develop and apply workflows that characterise divertor and edge impurity migration.

• Identify, initiate, and lead R&D projects, working closely with industry and scientific partners.

WHO YOU ARE

• Hold a postgraduate degree in plasma physics.

• Have strong experience in impurity transport and a clear interest in translating physics understanding into a practical plasma exhaust strategy.

• Bring experience using simulation and modeling to inform the geometry and operational limits of high-heat-flux systems.

• Be comfortable working across disciplines, collaborating directly with engineers to frame open-ended design challenges, proposing solutions, testing ideas, and iterating quickly.

• Bring expertise in simulation modeling and the design of high-heat-flux systems or plasma-facing components.

• Be proficient in scientific programming languages (Python, Julia, C++, and/or Fortran).

• Take initiative, communicate clearly, and be motivated by building systems that will define the future of fusion energy.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

• Recruiter Interview (30-60 min)

• Technical Screening (30 min)

• Technical Panel (3×60 min)

*This role sits at L2 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.