Lead Research Manager

Lead Research Manager

- Abingdon Road, Culham, gb
- Full-time
- Salary: £52,293 (inclusive of MPP) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
- Site Location: UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire or Rotherham, Yorkshire
- Confirmed Grade: Level 5
- Department: H3AT

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.

Job Description

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.
- 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.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions.

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. The Innovation Groups within Hydrogen 3 Advanced Technologies Division (H3AT) are comprised of research and development teams that pursue tritium life cycle development. The focus of the team is on delivering research which supports the realisation of a commercially viable fusion tritium life cycle. The groups also provide services to enable the validation and prototyping of novel processes on scales to accelerate their readiness for applications. As Lead Research Manager, you will play a pivotal role in leading research programmes and commercial contracts related to the Waste Innovation Group. The role will involve identifying and planning new work streams, working with the Technical Programme Manager for waste and decommissioning, as well as the other technical teams within the Waste Innovation Group.

Additional Responsibilities:

- Lead the principal research teams to maximise scientific output whilst ensuring all relevant health and safety executive, regulatory, and quality requirements are met. Challenge and resolve any non-compliant behaviours (particularly in relation to waste management).
- Development of scope, schedule and cost for waste related activities, supporting the build and commissioning of new waste facilities, acting as a technical adviser to ensure that facilities and processes are designed such that research objectives can be met.
- Management of Agency Supplied Workers to meet project deliverables, co-ordinating the team’s efforts in line with the H3AT mission statement and goals.
- Champion current best-practice, helping to inform decision-making for varied and novel waste-related projects by reviewing research, legislative and industry changes, generating reports where required for both internal and external customers.
- Influence the future direction of projects and programmes by using technical experience to foresee opportunities for business development, contribute to proposals/bids and secure additional research funds.
- Represent and promote H3AT’s innovative offerings and technical specialisms both internally and externally, presenting at conferences, attending relevant working groups and contributing to scientific reports and papers.
- Improve project delivery capability through training, mentoring and supervision of others, providing guidance and sharing knowledge.
- Occasionally required to work in radiological and beryllium-controlled areas. The post holder will be a Monitored Radiation Worker and a Beryllium Worker.
- Occasional international travel for conference/meeting attendance.
- Closely engage with the Joint European Torus decommissioning and repurposing programme to identify, address and escalate waste challenges.
- Engage with external stakeholders and support any initiatives UKAEA are involved with (e.g. Environmental Agency, National Waste Programme, Low Level Waste Repository, Radioactive Waste Management and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority).

Qualifications

Essential Requirements:

- Degree or equivalent level in relevant STEM subject with demonstratable research experience.
- Experience of working on projects as a technical lead.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, particularly with regards to writing concise and impactful technical reports.
- Ability to solve problems in a proactive manner and apply appropriate attention to detail.
- Ability to constructively interact with a variety of stakeholders at all levels of the business.
- Demonstrably proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite, in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Additional Information

For a full list of benefits and to apply, select the apply button to be taken through to the UKAEA careers pages.

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.

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 UK Government website for information on criminal records checks. 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.