Structural Integrity Engineer

Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Full-time
Salary: £38,620 (inclusive of MPP) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
Division: Integrated Engineering
Site Location: UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire
Confirmed Grade: Level 4
Department: Fusion Engineering

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 our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realising fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for groundbreaking 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 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 of 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.

The salary for this role is £38,620 (including a Market Premium Payment (MPP)).

Job Description

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. As a Structural Integrity Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in developing design criteria and Structural Integrity assessment methodologies for future fusion power plants. This role includes fulfilling commitments to projects such as EU-DEMO, STEP, ITER, MAST-U, and UKAEA's broader fusion research program. You will possess a strong understanding of computational stress analysis using finite element simulation, as well as creep, creep-fatigue, and fracture mechanics of fusion-relevant materials.

The role also entails securing funding, producing high-quality research publications, and presenting scientific findings at major conferences. If you have excellent communication, technical writing, and interpersonal skills, we would like to hear from you.

Additional Responsibilities:

Provide technical expertise for developing fusion-specific design criteria, codes, and standards for future demonstration fusion power plants and qualify structural models for designing, assessing, and qualifying in-vessel components.

Utilise assessment work to substantiate component designs, predict the lifetime of in-vessel components and ensure completion of assigned Structural Integrity projects within specified timeframes, budgets, and quality standards.

Propose and secure funding to advance UKAEA fusion engineering research, collaborating with academia and industry to pursue publications and patents.

Deliver presentations at major conferences and publish high-quality, first-author, peer-reviewed papers to consistently achieve impactful outputs, while also overseeing PhD researchers, placements, and summer internships.

Other Duties:

As part of your role, you could be asked to work in radiation-controlled areas or in beryllium-controlled areas. Full training and medical assessments will be provided if necessary. In this role, you might need to travel and attend occasional meetings abroad, represent UKAEA at meetings and functions, and represent UKAEA on external boards and representative bodies.

Qualifications

Essential Requirements:

- A PhD or equivalent experience in solid mechanics, engineering science, or related fields.
- Strong knowledge and experience in developing design criteria, codes, and standards, as well as integrity assessment methodologies.
- Strong background in materials and structural modelling.
- Experience with fusion-relevant environmental factors such as irradiation, high temperature and transient magnetic fields.

Desirable

- Proficiency in programming skills (C, C++, FORTRAN, MATLAB) is advantageous.
- Experience in component design, testing activities and experimental validation.
- Familiarity with data science and probabilistic analysis.
- Experience with machine learning and AI techniques, including training and deployment.
- Proficiency in writing research grant proposals.

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 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.