Graduate Mechanical Engineer – Graduate Scheme 2025

Overview of Responsibilities

The salary for this role is £32,729.

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

UKAEA’s two-year graduate scheme is split by 80% of your time developing both your general work-related skills and professional qualifications and 20% of your working time dedicated to graduate training and development.  Within the graduate training and development, there is a core suite of activities designed to develop your professional and business skills. Elements of this programme are flexible and can be tailored to your personal development needs and to those of your specific job role. 

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 Graduate Mechanical Engineer within the Integrated Engineering Division, you will play a pivotal role in performing a variety of engineering tasks designed to provide experience & familiarization with staff, methods, practices, & programs of the organisation. The role holder will be expected to manage their own development continuously working towards building their knowledge & skills.

The Integrated Engineering Division has opportunities for Graduate Mechanical Engineers to join teams specialising in the following areas:

  • Mechanical Design
  • Mechanical Project Engineering
  • Analysis and Qualification
  • Mechanical Engineering for fusion specialist components
  • Magnet Engineering

The Integrated Engineering Division provides Mechanical Engineering capabilities to the majority of UKAEA programmes, including the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP); Materials Research Facility (MRF); Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak – Upgrade (MAST-U); Fusion Technology Facilities (FTF); JET Decommissioning and Repurposing (JDR); Hydrogen-3 Advanced Technologies (H3AT); and various rigs and test facilities.

Supported by experienced engineering and project management staff, you will develop skills and knowledge on the job through various roles on many of these programmes (~3-6 month rotations), which could include the following activities:

  • Concept and design development
  • Analysis and qualification
  • Procurement and manufacture
  • Product realisation and testing

Additional Responsibilities:

These are dependent on the team you join on the placement.

  • Computer Aided Design (CAD)
  • Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or other Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools
  • Magnet and cryogenic system design, manufacture and test
  • Project management
  • Operations and/or repair & recovery of existing equipment
  • Welding inspection and standard compliance
  • Management of discrete packages of work
Salary
£32,729 + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
Programme
MULTIPLE
Department
Product Engineering
Discipline
Type of Employment
Full-time
Reference Number
REF3129X

Additional Information

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.

Benefits 

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 7and 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
A group of staff having lunch outside at the Culham restaurant

current opportunities

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What can I expect from the application process at UKAEA?

Once you have submitted a formal application via our website, all CVs will be reviewed shortly after the closing date of the advert.

  • Submit online application

  • Phone interview

  • Face-to-face or virtual interview

  • Other assessments

Company Description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing 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 are at the forefront of realising energy from fusion, working with industry and research partners to deliver the ground-breaking developments that will underpin tomorrow's fusion power stations with the aim of bringing fusion electricity to the grid.

As we work towards our mission and goals, UKAEA has devised values that capture the spirit of how we work. These values include being: Innovative, Committed, Trusted and Collaborative.

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