UK Atomic Energy Authority

Company Description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.

As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:

• Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
• Corporate bonus scheme up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
• Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment.
• Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders.
• Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays.
• Wide range of career development opportunities.
• A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive.

Job Description

The salary for this role is £56,596 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.

This role is based at the following site; Culham, Oxfordshire.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data.

The Role

This role is for a Senior Materials Engineer in the Materials Division at UKAEA. The person selected will sit within the Non-metallics team, a diverse group of world-class material scientists and engineers with a mission to deliver and demonstrate, at scale, non-metallic “fusion-grade” material technologies. The person selected for this role will be expected to be a technical expert and to lead on the conceptualisation, planning, and management of R&D projects specific to “irradiation shielding and irradiation damage effects in fusion and non-fusion materials”, with a strong emphasis on the delivery of key outputs (e.g. publications, patents, posters, and public reports) and the dissemination of results at national events and international conferences. The role also includes the identification and sourcing of funding to enable and grow your team as well as supervisory responsibilities.

Key Accountabilities:

• Organise and coordinate short and long-term projects, arranging equipment availability, scope of work and resources for sample preparation, testing, modelling.
• Deliver high quality, novel characterisation capability in the field of nuclear materials through own endeavour and creative input.
• Compile and present results within technical reports and where required at scientific conferences and through publication of high-quality research articles.
• Build, and provide management to, a small team of material scientists and engineers, providing research direction and allocating them to projects as required. This may also include leading teams during experiments or modelling exercises, to ensure that data is collected and reported in a robust and timely manner.
• Complete all aspects of line management and support recruitment activities, where relevant.
• Lead in the characterisation of the materials required for operation in a fusion power plant, collaborating closely and building a network not just with internal stakeholders but with other fusion and GenIV partners in both academia and industry.
• Manage relationships with external collaborators (including universities, public sector research establishments and industry in fusion and related fields) in order to complement UKAEA's internal capability and enable access to additional expert knowledge and facilitate new project proposals.
• Propose, secure funding for, and contribute to, delivery of novel projects and capability aligned with internal strategy (e.g. STEP, EPSRC, PhD, Masters placements, graduates).
• Represent UKAEA at both domestic and international conferences, as well as at various meetings and functions as required.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Degree or equivalent experience in materials science, mathematics, physics, chemistry or related and relevant subject.
• Technical expertise in at least one of the following areas:
  • Non-metallics (ceramics, CERMETS, composites, coatings, magnets),
  • Irradiation campaigns,
• Previous experience working in a laboratory environment / materials research group / experimental campaign.
• Ability to work well within a team and able to readily articulate complex technical information to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Ability to deliver high-quality results to tight timescales.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Desirable:

• PhD in materials science or related area.
• Prior experience of materials testing OR analysis OR modelling for an engineering application.
• Good understanding of nuclear environments and irradiation damage.
• Experience of high-resolution analytical instruments (XRF, TEM, STEM etc.) OR experience with Fortran / C# /FEA type models OR experience in engineering design codes.
• Strong publication track-record.
• Experience in preparing funding grant applications.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/.

We welcome talented people from all backgrounds who want to help us achieve our mission. We encourage applications from under-represented groups, particularly from women in STEM, people from Black British Caribbean and African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi British, and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and neurotypical individuals. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) and Wellbeing and our EDI Networks actively promote Inclusion and takes steps to increase diversity within our organisation. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.

For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the following link for information on criminal records checks: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.