Plasma and Enabling Technologies Lead

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 realising fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for groundbreaking advancements. We aim 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.

Benefits:

- Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert
- Corporate bonus scheme of 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

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

The salary for this role is £63,856 (including a Market Premium Payment (MPP)). A full list of our benefits can be found on our website.

Job Description

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 who are charged with the ‘Design Authority’ and ‘Intelligent Customer’ functions for their allocated facility. This includes independent challenges of delivery teams to achieve performance, compliance, function, and safety wherever that is in the plant lifecycle (design, deployment, operation, modification, decommissioning…, etc.).
‘Capability Leaders / Co-ordinators’ within the Engineering Authority who orchestrate organisation-wide knowledge and ways of working on a critical cross-cutting topic of high impact. This includes critical disciplines (e.g., electrical) and technologies (e.g., magnets).
- ‘Statute & Regulation Specialists’ based across UKAEA who 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 the UKAEA. At this level, typically, the role will comprise one or more of the following:

- 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 the UKAEA.

In this dynamic and engaging position, each day brings an exciting blend of challenges and opportunities. You’ll find yourself 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 shape the expenditure of facility budgets, ensuring that financial resources are allocated efficiently and effectively to support the successful realisation of groundbreaking projects.

As a member of the Office of the Chief Engineer, the post-holder is a role model within the 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, and learning and improving.

Qualifications
Essential Requirements:

- Advanced degree in a relevant discipline (or equivalent experience)
- Membership of a recognised professional body in a relevant discipline (or on a development path to achieve membership)
- Able to be both detail-oriented & consider the ‘bigger’ picture, dependent on the situation.
- High standards with respect to delivering 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 in the following, as demonstrated by track record (roles, responsibilities, projects, etc):
Delivering and utilising complex industrial or research plants (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, including 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 in 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