Construction Manager at Radiant in Oak Ridge, TN

Job description

About Radiant Radiant is an El Segundo, CA-based startup building the world’s first mass-produced, portable nuclear microreactors. Rising energy demand is straining the U.S. grid and driving up utility costs, emissions, and interconnection backlogs. Radiant decentralizes energy, producing power close to where it’s used. Its first reactor, Kaleidos, is a factory-built, 1-megawatt, fail-safe microreactor that can be transported by land, sea, or air and runs up to 5 years without refueling. Deployed locally without a decade-long build or permitting fight, Kaleidos provides independent power for critical infrastructure like military bases, data centers, hospitals, and remote sites. Founded in 2020, Radiant is under contract to deliver power to the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and has pre-order agreements with Equinix, with deployments beginning in 2028. About the Role We are building a first-of-kind advanced nuclear manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and are seeking a hands-on Construction Manager / Owner’s Representative to drive execution on the ground. This role is the company’s onsite decision-maker during construction, responsible for translating aggressive schedules and evolving design intent into real, built outcomes. This is a startup player-coach role, not a passive oversight position. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments, is comfortable making real-time field decisions, and can push contractors, designers, and internal teams to deliver. The role is intentionally structured to either: • Remain focused on capital projects and future build phases, or • Transition into a site facilities / operations leadership role after construction. Responsibilities & Duties: Owner’s Representative & Field Execution: • Serve as the primary onsite authority representing ownership during all phases of construction, upholding high standards of excellence for site safety and work completion. • Maintain daily field presence, driving execution across GC(s), subcontractors, and vendors. • Hold contractors accountable to schedule, manpower, sequencing, and quality commitments. • Identify issues early and resolve them decisively to avoid schedule or cost impact. • Review and manage RFIs, submittals, pay applications, and change orders with a bias toward speed and clarity. Schedule-Driven Delivery: • Own day-to-day schedule awareness and near-term lookahead planning. • Leverage first principles / creative problem solving to recover lost time and protect critical path activities. • Support cost tracking and change management with a strong understanding of trade-offs between schedule, scope, and cost. • Ensure inspections, testing, and commissioning activities are sequenced to avoid delays. Design Interface & Future Phases: • Actively participate in design discussions for future construction phases, expansions, or follow-on facilities. • Provide constructability, sequencing, and operational feedback to design teams based on real-world field conditions. • Translate lessons learned from active construction into improved designs, scopes, and execution strategies for future phases. • Support early planning for utilities, equipment layouts, access, maintenance, and operational flow. Regulatory & Stakeholder Coordination: • Interface directly with local AHJs, inspectors, and third-party reviewers. • Coordinate closely with internal Engineering, Facilities, Operations, EHS, Security, and Regulatory teams to ensure alignment between design intent and field execution. • Support documentation, turnover, and readiness activities required for a regulated manufacturing environment. Transition to Operations (Optional Path): • Drive facility turnover, commissioning, and startup readiness. • Depending on business needs and candidate strengths, transition into a Facilities or Site Operations role owning: • Preventive maintenance and service contracts • Contractor oversight • Building systems and utilities • Continuous improveme