Senior Materials Engineer

Overview of Responsibilities

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As a Senior Materials Engineer you will work within the Non-metallics Team within the Materials Division who are supporting the delivery of commercial fusion by: 

• Engineering and scoping new material compositions and microstructures in pursuit of “fusion-grade” structural and functional systems.
• Modelling and experimentally-validating the ability for selected materials to survive the anticipated fusion environment.
• Maintaining the Materials Research Facility, a national user facility for the advanced characterisation of radioactive materials.

Senior Materials Engineer – Radiation Effects in Functional Materials

This role is for a Senior Materials Engineer specialising in “Radiation Effects in Functional Materials”. Functional materials are needed in various roles within a fusion device, including diagnostic and sensory instrumentation, robotics for remote maintenance, and other operational systems. It is likely that the functional materials that make up these systems will be exposed to neutron and/or gamma radiation, and it is essential to understand the effect this has on the materials to ensure the safe and reliable performance of these systems during service.

Example materials may include, but is not limited to, diamond sensors, silica fibre optics, doped-glasses for lenses and mirrors, gallium nitride and silicon carbide microchips, silicon-on-sapphire circuit boards, and so forth.

The primary focus of the role will be to leverage national UK facilities to design, plan and conduct radiation experiments on non-metallic functional materials and to characterise/use modelling techniques to understand degradation mechanisms linked to loss of performance. Prior experience conducting irradiation damage studies is NOT required for this role, but we do expect some level of knowledge regarding radiation damage effects in materials.

Additional Responsibilities

• Broad-scope project management and strategic planning.
• Liaising with commercial suppliers to source materials for experimentation.
• Understanding and supporting the needs of various teams across multiple divisions.
• Operation of advanced equipment for characterising irradiation damage in materials.
• Delivery of technical and scientific outputs (papers, posters and reports).
• Presenting results at conferences, both domestic and internationally.
• Writing and co-authorship of proposals to fund internal and/or external research activities.
• Technical leadership and co-supervision of part-funded PhDs, graduate, and undergraduate projects.
• Exploiting skills and knowledge to support the activities of the wider non-metallics team.

Qualifications

Essential Requirements

• A degree or equivalent experience in materials science, engineering, metallurgy or related and relevant subject.
• Technical expertise in at least one of the following areas: Metallics (steels, alloys), Non metallics (ceramics, CERMETS, composites, coatings, magnets), Microstructural analysis / design / modelling, Mechanical / corrosion testing OR Materials fabrication / processing. 
• Previous experience of 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 
• Proficiency in delivering high-quality results within tight timescales.