Senior Project Controller Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Thanks for your interest in Oklo!  We are searching for a Sr. Project Controller, Fuel to join our team.

Position Description

We are seeking a disciplined, analytical, and commercially minded Project Controller to support capital project delivery across Oklo's Fuel business unit and supporting infrastructure.

This role is expected to provide an independent financial perspective within the project team, constructively challenging assumptions and ensuring financial integrity in forecasting, reporting, and commercial decision making.

This role will be a key member of the Fuels project teams and will partner closely with the Project Manager, Project Sponsor and Fuels' business leaders to ensure rigorous cost control, schedule integration, financial transparency, and performance accountability throughout the project lifecycle.

This role interfaces with the EPC and other vendors, reviewing reporting, participating in regular updates, and constructively challenging cost and progress assumptions. 

The Project Controller will work in close coordination with the Capital Cost Management and the Planning and Scheduling team to ensure project-level cost tracking, reporting, and forecasting remain aligned with the project plan, physical progress as well as with established cost frameworks, breakdown structures, and governance standards.

This role reports into the Sr. Director of Project Budgeting and Controls with day-to-day integration within project teams.

Specific responsibilities may include:

• Forecasting and EAC Ownership: Develop and maintain independent cost-to-complete and Estimate at Completion (EAC) positions, ensuring forecasts reflect financial reality and risk exposure. Provide data-informed challenge to assumptions impacting cost and schedule outcomes and clearly articulate forecast deltas, underlying drivers, and financial implications to project and senior leadership.
• Cost Control and Tracking: Provide trusted reporting, trending, and variance analyses of commitments and actual expenditures compared to project budgets. 
• Project Performance Assessment: Lead cost and schedule integration to assess project performance, including the financial impacts of schedule changes and drive transparency between progress and cost performance. 
• Risk and Performance Management: Identify and quantify cost and schedule risk. Maintain independent, data-informed judgement of project performance and escalate concerns around forecast integrity and compliance. Monitor contingency utilization and change order trends. 
• Reporting & Insights: Own monthly project financial reporting packages and executive-ready project narratives. Support the preparation of materials for senior leadership reviews as required.
• Vendor and Contract Performance Oversight: Review and audit contractor and vendor cost reports and validate progress against contractual milestones, physical progress and schedule status. Hold vendors accountable to transparent, timely, and contractually compliant reporting standards and frequency.
• Governance and Framework Alignment: Ensure project-level cost tracking aligns with standardized methodologies and governance frameworks established through partnership with the Capital Cost Management team. Maintain and enforce cost discipline and reporting consistency across project teams.
• Corporate Financial Integration: Act as the primary interface between project financials and accounting to ensure accurate consolidation, alignment, and reporting of project financial data.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7+ years of progressive project controls experience, including ownership of EAC and independent forecast development within large-scale energy, infrastructure, industrial, or construction sectors
• Experience supporting EPC or construction projects (preferably $100M+ environments)
• Strong knowledge of cost control processes, forecasting, earned value, and schedule integration
• Experience reviewing contractor reporting and managing change control processes
• Strong analytical skills with comfort working in large datasets and financial models
• Proficiency with ERP and project cost systems, with ability to adapt across tools and environments
• Proven ability to work closely with cross-functional project teams
• Clear and concise communication skills

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience with nuclear or other FOAK energy infrastructure projects
• Familiarity with DOE, NRC, and other regulated capital environments
• Experience with IRA ITC eligibility and compliance tracking.
• Startup or high-growth company experience

Competencies

We are looking for a Sr. Project Controller that is: 

• Comfortable operating in constructive tension with project leadership to protect long-term project performance.
• Confident presenting independent project performance positions to senior stakeholders.
• Courageous in raising uncomfortable financial and performance truths early.
• High personal accountability for forecast accuracy and financial transparency.
• Detail-oriented and disciplined in financial analysis
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving project environment
• Willing to challenge assumptions constructively
• Collaborative and team-oriented while maintaining independent judgment
• Data-driven and proactive in identifying risks and trends
• Clear and effective in communicating financial insights

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:

Salary: $150,000-$200,000

Salary may fall outside of the range provided and will be dependent on applicant experience.

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, bonuses, competitive pay, 401(k), health insurance (with employer contribution), HSA, FSA, flexible work hours, wellness credits, and other benefits.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Only applicants who meet the definition of a U.S. person under applicable laws may be eligible.

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.