Project Cost Control Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Senior Manager of Capital Cost Management to join our team.
Position Description
We are seeking an experienced and motivated leader to design, implement, and scale Oklo's capital project budgeting and cost architecture capability across our first-of-a-kind (FOAK) and subsequent fleet (NOAK) nuclear powerhouses, fuel fabrication facilities, recycling complexes, radioisotope production assets, and supporting infrastructure.
This role will establish the foundational cost structures, standards, and systems that enable cost transparency, disciplined capital allocation, and sustained FOAK-to-NOAK cost curve decline across Oklo's portfolio of capital projects.
The successful candidate will own the development, scaling, and direct implementation of standardized cost breakdown structures (CBS), work breakdown structures (WBS), and portfolio-wide capital cost taxonomies to ensure clean, decision-grade cost data across projects and business units. This role will also play a key part in strengthening owner-side cost visibility and control maturity to support the evolution of Oklo's commercial vendor strategies over time.
This role collaborates closely across Engineering, Product, Construction, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Finance, and Business Development to align cost architecture with scope definition, procurement strategy, and capital deployment planning.
This role reports to the Director of Project Budgeting and Controls within the Office of the CFO with a strong cross functional relationship to the project deployment capabilities.
Specific responsibilities may include:

• Standards Governance: Ensure consistent application of budgeting standards across projects and business units. Partner with project controls teams to ensure actuals, forecasts, and reporting align with defined cost structures and methodologies. Establish cost data governance standards to ensure traceability of budgets, commitments, change orders and actuals.
• Cost Curve Development: Develop and institutionalize Oklo's cost improvement framework. Establish structured capture of cost learnings across projects. Build and maintain internal and external benchmarking. Partner with stakeholders across the org to embed cost improvements into future project budgets and capital planning cycles to drive and support Oklo's FOAK-to-NOAK cost improvements.
• Capital Cost Architecture: Define the methodology, cost- and work breakdown structures, and governance frameworks for detailed project budgets.
• Project Budgeting: Drive development of detailed project budgets ensuring alignment with cost estimates, scope, resources, and timelines.
• Vendor and Contractor Cost Transparency: Assess and strengthen owner-side cost control maturity required to enable strategic evolution in vendor contracting structures (e.g. T&M vs Firm Price). Partner with legal, supply chain, and deployment partners to align cost structure maturity with contracting strategies.
• Systems Integration: Define and directly implement requirements, processes and standards that will be part of integrations of project financial planning and reporting systems with project management and ERP systems.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in capital project budgeting, cost architecture, or project controls leadership within large-scale power, energy, infrastructure, industrial, or nuclear sectors
• Demonstrated experience designing cost breakdown structures and capital cost taxonomies for large capital portfolios (including projects of $100M+)
• Strong knowledge of project cost systems, job costing methodologies, ERP integration, and capital governance frameworks
• Experience supporting large-scale EPC or construction projects with a strong understanding of owner-side cost control maturity
• Demonstrated experience in portfolio cost optimization, benchmarking, and structured cost learning systems
• Experience analyzing large datasets to identify cost drivers and structural improvement opportunities
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, construction, procurement, finance, and executive leadership
• Excellent communication skills, including executive and Board-level reporting

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience with nuclear or other FOAK energy infrastructure projects
• Familiarity with DOE, NRC, EPA, and OSHA environments
• Experience structuring cost systems to support IRA ITC eligibility and compliance tracking
• Startup or high-growth company experience

Competencies
We are looking for a Senior Manager of Capital Cost Management that is:

• Passionate about making advanced nuclear a reality
• Willing and able to learn quickly
• Willing to think differently and do things in new ways
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, highly iterative startup environment
• Excited to think creatively, critically, and reflectively about the problems they are solving while not leaning only on what has been done before
• Willing to propose novel and creative solutions
• Able to communicate technical content and results verbally

Who you are:
A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team. If you prefer the culture and feel of a large organization, that is great, but you likely won't enjoy working with us! There is plenty of important work and plenty of good opportunities with organizations like that.
Motivated: You are self-motivated. You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and clocking out. This isn't about a fake or arbitrary "pieces of flair" mentality or lack of work-life balance! It is about being a part of the vision and feeling a part of reaching team goals.
A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We aren't about taking credit for ourselves, and we aren't about pushing blame to others. We do incredible things because we work as a team.
An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.
Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement. The successful person in this job will not only be creative, but also enjoy being creative and solving open-ended problems which may change day-by-day.
Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.
About Oklo travel requirements:
Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off-sites, and other company events or gatherings. For the first two weeks of onboarding, employees are required to be in person at headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.
About Oklo compensation: $185,000-$205,000
Salary may fall outside of the range provided and will be dependent on applicant experience.
Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401k, health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.
About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.
#CHOP: Oklo's Values
Collaboration: We go further, together. We bring diverse perspectives, listen actively, and build trust through transparency and respect. We work across disciplines, sharing ownership to turn complex challenges into shared successes.
Humility: We are team players who act for the good of the company and for the world. We are focused on our mission, not personal recognition.
Ownership: We take pride in what we do and how we do it. We are proactive in finding solutions and see tasks through to completion. We are committed to delivering on our promises to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Pathfinding: We chart new ground where no path exists by approaching challenges with curiosity, courage, and creativity while navigating ambiguity.
Candidates should be aware that employment may be contingent upon successful completion of a drug screening, and employees may be subject to drug testing at any time in accordance with company policy and applicable laws.
Recruitment Fraud Disclaimer
Oklo is aware of recent recruitment fraud attempts targeting job seekers. Please be cautious of anyone claiming to represent Oklo who does not contact you from an official Oklo email address.
All legitimate communications from our recruiting team- including application updates, interview requests, and job offers - will come exclusively from an @oklo.com email. Oklo will never ask for sensitive personal information, payments, or account credentials during the hiring process.
If you receive suspicious outreach or have concerns about the authenticity of any communication claiming to be from Oklo, please contact us through the official channels listed on our website.