Materials Engineer (Mechanical Testing)
Overview of Responsibilities
This role can be based at the following site; Culham, Oxfordshire.
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
We are seeking applicants that are highly skilled practitioners in materials testing, with a focus on mechanical testing of metallic specimens. Successful applicants will fulfil an essential delivery role through practical application of engineering best practice, developed within the Applied Materials Technology (AMT) Group, to advance qualification of candidate materials for fusion power systems. They will use their skills and experience to support academic and industrial research, as well as train AMT lab users in the latest techniques and methods covering the data management pipeline. These capabilities will include: mechanical testing at extremely high (> 1000 °C) and low (< 20 K) temperatures under vacuum and other environments; using advanced measurement techniques such as digital image correlation and spectral pyrometry to measure mechanical performance; and applying sophisticated software tools to derive essential material property data with full uncertainty quantification.
What will you be responsible for?
- Deliver materials data based on mechanical testing campaigns, either independently or under mentorship and coaching (dependent on complexity), to agreed expectations (time and budget).
- Work closely with other development-focused scientists and engineers to ensure new and innovative testing technologies are implemented in the AMT laboratory.
- Identify and apply appropriate testing, analysis, and evaluation processes to provide engineering solutions in complex and representative fusion environments.
- Work with stakeholders to understand end-user requirements and ensure these are captured in all stages of the project lifecycle (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring & control, reporting and close-out).
- Where required, support technical development of lab users through structured mentorship and on-the-job training.
- Maintain timely and clear communication about progress.
- Work with external collaborators (e.g., universities, public sector research establishments, and industry) to provide technical support and facilitate knowledge transfer.
- Promote UKAEA’s values, championing a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
- Work in accordance with UKAEA policy and undertake any other reasonable tasks or duties requested by Management.
Budget Responsibility
- The appointee will be required to manage project budgets where they have been identified as the Responsible Officer. This will include management of procurement requests and timesheets.
Extra Information
- The appointee will be required to complete all training required to establish a broad understanding of fusion engineering and design.
- The role may require representation of UKAEA at external meetings and other functions, including international conferences/workshops, and on both internal and external boards and other representative bodies.
Qualifications
Essential Requirements:
- A PhD, or equivalent experience in a structured research environment, based in an engineering or physical science discipline.
- Experience of working in a materials test laboratory.
- Experience of materials data processing.
- Experience of applying best practice across all stages of project lifecycle (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring & control, reporting and close-out).
- Appetite to learn, research, investigate and tackle new challenges.
- Ability to work as part of a team and communicate effectively in both technical and non-technical terms.
- Ability to plan and prioritise workload.
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.
