Plasma and Enabling Technologies Lead

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Plasma and Enabling Technologies Lead, you will play a pivotal role within the ‘Engineering Authority’ strand of the Office of the Chief Engineer, which is a collective of engineering specialists and generalists.

The organisation and delegation of responsibilities from the UKAEA Chief Engineer to the ‘Engineering Authority’ is achieved and co-ordinated via ‘Letters of Delegation’ from the UKAEA Chief Engineer for critical appointments: 

• ‘Facility Chief Engineers’ within the Engineering Authority that are charged with the ‘Design Authority’ and ‘Intelligent Customer’ functions for their allocated facility. Includes independent challenge of delivery teams to achieve performance, compliance, function, and safety wherever that is in the plant lifecycle (design, deployment, operation, modification, decommissioning…) 
• ‘Capability Leaders / Co-ordinators’ within the Engineering Authority that orchestrate organisation wide knowledge and ways of working on a critical cross-cutting topic of high impact. Includes critical disciplines (e.g. electrical) and technologies (e.g. magnets).
• ‘Statute & Regulation Specialists’ based across UKAEA that establish, evolve, consult and where appropriate monitor practices that link to compliance (e.g. LOLER, PED, ATEX/DSEAR, etc). 

The purpose of this post is to discharge their specific delegations and then to support the Engineering Authority across UKAEA. At this level, typically the role will comprise one or more of:

• delegation as a Facility Chief Engineer for up to two ‘high’ complexity facilities (e.g., H3AT)
• delegation as a Deputy Facility Chief Engineer for the ‘highest’ complexity facilities (e.g., MAST-U)
• delegation as a Technical Capability Leader for a given discipline (e.g., electrical)

On an ad-hoc basis the post holder will provide their specialist skills and experience to support the ‘Engineering Authority’ across all UKAEA facilities. The post may also undertake matrix-based line management of staff over and above their core role and will include a prominent role in mentoring, coaching, and training across UKAEA.

In this dynamic and engaging position, each day brings an exciting blend of challenges and opportunities. You’ll find yourself right at the heart of innovation, supporting UKAEA in exploring uncharted territories. Whether it’s sanctioning a world-first experiment to move beyond its established operating conditions, chairing a design review of a plant modification to expand capability, addressing high severity non-conformances within the supply chain, or coaching a group of onboarding engineers on the expectations for technical quality, or defining the technical governance structures for forthcoming projects, you’ll be immersed in a dynamic environment that constantly drives you to expand your knowledge and skills. This role offers a diverse spectrum of experiences that are not only professionally rewarding but also integral to the evolution of our pioneering projects.

Additional Responsibilities:

The technical advice and decision making from this role heavily shapes the expenditure of facility budgets, ensuring that financial resources are allocated efficiently and effectively to support the successful realization of ground-breaking projects.

As a member of the Office of the Chief Engineer, the post-holder is a role model within UKAEA and will be held to high behavioural standards. The key values, as agreed by members of the Engineering Authority are: integrity and honesty; accessibility and visibility; empowering and enabling; proportionate and targeted; learning and improving.

Essential Requirements:

• Advanced degree in a relevant discipline (or equivalent experience) 
• Membership of recognised professional body in a relevant discipline (or on a development path to achieve membership) 
• Able to be both detail-oriented & consider ‘bigger’ picture, dependent on the situation.
• High standards with respect to delivering with quality and compliance
• Clear drive for personal growth, organisational learning, and continuous improvement
• Clear and effective communicator at all levels (workshop to C-suite)
• Extensive experience of the following, as demonstrated by track record (roles, responsibilities, projects, etc):
  • Delivering and utilising complex industrial or research plant (e.g., process, oil/gas, nuclear)
  • Delivery across Plant Lifecycle (Need, Design, Build & Test, Commission, Operate, Monitor, Maintain & Modify, Decommission)
  • Relevant industrial regulations, codes, standards and norms together with tailoring their application within a diverse business
• Experience working within and leading multi-disciplinary teams, to include several specialties from the following:
  • Engineering Delivery; Operations; Safety Case; Machine / Plant / Asset Protection; Asset Management & Maintenance; Quality Assurance; Waste Management; Environment; Safety

Desirable requirements:

• IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent
• Extensive technical knowledge of one or more of the following:
  • Disciplines: Product Lifecycle Management, Asset Management Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Physics
  • Technologies: Magnets, Vacuum, Cryogenics, Heat Exchange, Nuclear Infrastructure (Shielding, Ventilation)
• Extensive experience of the following, as demonstrated by track record (roles, responsibilities, projects, etc):
  • Technical Risk Assessment & Management for competing requirements (Reliability, Safety, Performance, Lifetime, ...)
  • Delivery and exploitation of innovative engineering for research and development purposes, ideally leveraging personal skills or teams that have included: Project Management, Systems Engineering, Quality & Continuous Improvement

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

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and women. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. 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.