Avalanche is a Seattle-based start-up developing compact fusion machines for clean, energy-dense power generation at a scale you can hold in your hands. Our unique approach allows us to build, test, break, learn and iterate in days. The modular design is designed to provide power to applications from austere environments to deep sea vehicles and maritime transport to lunar power.

We know we have an incredibly ambitious mission, and that it requires a wide combination of skills, attitude, and grit to make it happen. If you have a passion for abundant energy, and how we can improve life with it, we want to have a chat with you.

Avalanche might be fit for you if: You are self-motivated, energized by problem solving and working closely with hardware. You enjoy hands-on, creative collaboration with a small, tight-knit team you can work with, laugh with, and learn with on a wide variety of topics. You can learn and pivot between priorities when necessary and you can slide the headphones on, focus, and auger deep into a single topic as needed. You thrive in an atmosphere of development, and you are an ardent learner who’s always looking for ways to grow and improve.

About the Role

We are seeking a senior business development professional to drive commercialization activities for our various energy technologies during a period of rapid growth. Avalanche will remain R&D-intensive for the next several years, and this leader will connect mission needs, acquisition and budget strategy, technology maturation, and commercialization while helping the company build scalable operating discipline.

You will secure government and commercial contracts and agreements, establish strategic partnerships across government, industry, national labs, and academia, and support the development of value chains required to go to market. This role is critical to the commercialization of Avalanche Energy’s fusion and fusion-enabling technologies effort and could grow into a GM-level role with P&L responsibility.

This position reports to the Director of Strategy and will work closely with executive, technical, legal, finance, regulatory, compliance, and operations leadership to align business development priorities with RDT&E, commercialization, and growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Federal Capture (DOE/NNSA-first, broader federal as needed)

Own a 12–24-month federal contracts pipeline from opportunity shaping → proposal process → award execution handoff.

Produce presentations, white papers, technical proposals, and agency responses.

Lead capture operations from opportunity qualification and bid/no-bid through capture planning and solution development.

Organize and lead cross-functional proposal teams to secure non-traditional and FAR-based prime and sub-contracts/agreements that accelerate technical milestones (e.g., neutron source development, isotope production pathway, and fusion power system maturation) and eventually long-term production and procurement contracts.

Negotiate teaming agreements, subcontracts, and awards, with attention to pricing, cost share, IP and technical data rights, flow-downs, security, and transition rights.

Translate complex science into compelling, fundable value propositions for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Support strategic Congressional and Departmental engagement activities.

Strategic Partnership Development

Build and maintain senior relationships across DOE program offices, NNSA, national labs, and aligned industry partners needed for technology development and scale-up.

Structure partnerships that unlock facilities, test capabilities, supply chain, manufacturing, and deployment and disposal channels.

Represent Avalanche at relevant conferences, customer engagements, and partner meetings to build credibility, partnerships, and deal flow.

Commercialization and Value Chain Development

Work with strategy and technical teams to ensure BD priorities map to the GTM/commercialization plan.

Drive continuous market and customer discovery efforts and feed findings back into R&D and engineering priorities and program plans.