About Focused Energy

Focused Energy is building the future of clean energy through laser-driven inertial fusion. Backed by our $240M Series A - the largest fully secured Series A in the global fusion industry we are scaling rapidly across multiple geographies.

Based in Germany and the US, we have brought together the top scientific and engineering minds using proven technologies to unlock fusion power at commercial scale. Focused Energy is working to realize game-changing scientific innovation that promises to deliver a clean, sustainable and abundant source of power globally.

What You’ll Do

Design the system‑level architecture for control systems across facilities, making strategic platform and technology choices in collaboration with program and system owners

Direct real‑time and embedded control solution implementation, selecting and guiding use of PLC, FPGA and other real‑time platforms, balancing performance, reliability, safety and cost trade‑offs

Work together with system integrators, electrical engineering, cabinet builders, and technicians to specify, design, review, test, install, and commission control cabinet hardware and field devices

Work together with the software team to architect and deliver fully integrated SCADA, HMI and data systems for alarms, logging, historian, analytics, data reduction, dashboards, etc., ensuring scalability and high performance

Orchestrate system integration across multiple complex subsystems and teams; define observability, logging and diagnostic strategies and lead root‑cause investigations and post-mortem studies of active systems to deliver lessons learned and contribute to continuous availability improvement

Shape requirements, documentation and validation approaches at system level, including design specs, interfaces and test strategies for reliability, safety and long‑term maintainability

Coach and mentor senior and junior engineers, identify capability gaps, grow technical capabilities in key skill areas, and champion best practices for software engineering, testing, quality, and ways of working within the controls team and beyond

Who You Are

Degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Control/Automation, Mechatronics/Robotics, Physics or similar; PhD or equivalent experience preferred, with recognition as a technical expert in control/embedded or real‑time systems

Typically 10+ years in control/embedded systems, factory or plant automation, automated test systems, or complex scientific experimental work, with architectural ownership across multiple projects or products

Deep experience in at least one relevant domain (e.g., high energy lasers, nuclear, robotics, power/energy, automotive, aerospace, industrial automation) with understanding of domain constraints standards and regulations, as well as supplier ecosystems and main players

Proven track record specifying control cabinet hardware; defining house standards, ensuring compliance with regulations, liaising with system integrators, and creating test plans and quality control processes

Proven track record specifying control software and/or SCADA and data acquisition systems; defining interfaces, patterns and coding standards across teams, and guiding technology trade‑offs

Extensive experience with embedded and real‑time platforms (e.g., PLCs in ST IEC 61131‑3, FPGAs, RTOS‑based systems, robotics), including selecting platforms and scaling architectures with clear RAM vs cost/reliability trade‑offs

Understanding of software/firmware engineering best practices (version control, branching, design for test, CI/CD, automated testing, defensive programming) and experience introducing or improving these practices, and organizing or conducting training programs across teams or organizations

Excellent communicator (English), able to influence technical direction at organization level, handle and resolve ambiguities in requirements and processes, and build alignment across hardware, software, product and operations teams in hybrid, cross‑site environments