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Nuclear Expert, DeepMind

DeepMind

Mountain View, CAJob$174–252K/yrPosted 1 day agoStill listed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$174–252K/yr
Location
Mountain View, CA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Google DeepMind seeks a nuclear subject matter expert for its CBRNE team within Responsible Development and Innovation. The Research Scientist will evaluate and mitigate frontier AI model safety risks in nuclear domains, including fission, fusion, thermonuclear weapons proliferation, radiation hydrodynamics, and MHD. The role combines nuclear expertise with AI safety evaluation, mitigation design, policy development, and communication of technical risks.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Plasma (Physics)Nuclear EngineeringScientific ComputingPython (Programming Language)C++ (Programming Language)National Lab CollaborationGovernment Consortium CollaborationStockpile StewardshipNonproliferationArms ControlThreat ReductionHigh Energy Density PhysicsInertial Confinement FusionImplosion DynamicsCriticalityMissilesReactor OperationsNuclear InfrastructureAI SafetyEvaluationsRed TeamingApplied AI/ML ResearchComputational ModelingRadiation HydrodynamicsMagnetohydrodynamicsExperimental ICF/HEDPDiagnostic Inverse ProblemsEvaluation DesignMitigation DesignDual-Use Science ProxiesCommunicationEnglish

Qualifications

PhD in Plasma Physics, Nuclear Engineering, or Related Field or Equivalent ExperienceExperience Collaborating With National Labs or AgenciesResearch or Policy Experience in Nuclear Risk AreasTechnical Experience in Nuclear Physics Areas

Full job description

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Minimum qualifications:

  • PhD in plasma physics, nuclear engineering, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Experience collaborating with US national labs or agencies like IAEA, NNSA, or DARPA, or similar government/academic consortia.
  • Experience in research/policy in stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation, arms control, or threat reduction.
  • Technical experience in high energy density physics, inertial confinement fusion, implosion dynamics, criticality, missiles, or reactor operations, nuclear infrastructure.

Preferred qualifications:

  • Experience working in AI safety, evaluations, red teaming, or applied AI/ML research at a national laboratory, academic institution, or industry setting.
  • Expertise in computational modeling, scientific computing (Python, C++), radiation hydrodynamics, and MHD.
  • Experimental and computational ICF/HEDP experience at major laser user facilities (e.g., NIF, JLF), diagnostic inverse problems relevant to weapons development.
  • Ability to design evaluations and mitigations that are demonstrably unclassified and non-export controlled by developing dual use science proxies for weapons topics.
  • Commitment to serving a global user base and promoting a fundamentally safe technological ecosystem.

About the job Google invites applications from highly qualified physicists and nuclear engineers for the position of Nuclear Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high-yield Explosives (CBRNE) team within the Responsible Development and Innovation (ReDI) team. The successful candidate will be hired for a Research Scientist position serving as a technical expert responsible for evaluating and mitigating safety risks of frontier AI models (primarily but not limited to LLMs) in the nuclear domain; specifically, model assistance in fission, fusion, and thermonuclear weapons proliferation, radiation hydrodynamics, Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), etc. in a demonstrably unclassified and non-export controlled manner. Artificial intelligence will be one of humanity’s most transformative inventions. At Google DeepMind, we are a pioneering AI lab with exceptional interdisciplinary teams focused on advancing AI development to solve complex global challenges and accelerate high-quality product innovation for billions of users. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, ensuring safety and ethics are always our highest priority.

We are pushing the boundaries across multiple domains. Our global teams offer diverse learning opportunities and varied career pathways for those driven to achieve exceptional results through collective effort. Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $174000 - $252000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google. Responsibilities

  • Construct threat models prioritizing vulnerabilities, threat actors, and scenarios related to fission, fusion, thermonuclear weapons development and high energy density dual use regimes. Develop mathematical and computational frameworks to quantify capability thresholds, technical feasibility, and potential consequences of model uplift wherever possible.
  • Create robust evaluation datasets of complex physics and nuclear engineering prompts to elicit the maximum capability of the model to determine how to uplift malicious actors (e.g., revealing tacit knowledge, novel procedures, time/cost reduction, detectability reduction) across the domain.
  • Collaborate with engineers to design mitigations that block harmful outputs without overly degrading the model's scientific utility. Similar to writing capability evaluations, this requires a deep understanding of dual use science.
  • Support development, refinement of Google’s nuclear safety policy. Communicate complex risks, evaluation findings, mitigation strategies to leadership and technical/ non-technical external stakeholders.

Information collected and processed as part of your Google Careers profile, and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Google's Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy. Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See also Google's EEO Policy, Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal, Belonging at Google, and How we hire. If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form. Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting. To all recruitment agencies: Google does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Google employees, or any other organization location. Google is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.

How this job compares

Set against the 2,289 open Research Scientist jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 29, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$174–252K/yr
  • California median$180–270K/yr495 salary ranges
  • US median$150–228K/yr1,542 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $213K, is 6% below the California median midpoint ($226K) — in the middle half of Research Scientist salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 713 open Research Scientist jobs in California and 2,289 across the US. 3% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
Research Scientist postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 2 to 6 years (1,264 postings).
Education
1,201 of the 2,289 open Research Scientist jobs (52%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 29, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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