Independent Nuclear Assurance (Principal Inspector) in England

Location: Barrow-in-Furness. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role.

Salary: Competitive

What you’ll be doing:

• Performing independent inspection, surveillance and concurrence of nuclear work on facilities, plant, equipment and nuclear support services, on-board and on-site to evaluate the nuclear and radiological safety and security performance at Barrow.
• Inspecting and assessing the business’s capability to progress the submarine build and/or projects in the Site Redevelopment Programme to their relevant next stage through the ‘Hold Point Control’ process.
• Inspecting the business against the requirements of relevant legislation to assess the business’ level of compliance.
• Communicating, both in writing and verbally, the conclusions of inspections and their findings to various stakeholders at all levels, including external regulators, board members, senior managers and business peers.
• Independently assessing the business’ emergency arrangements exercises, providing feedback to those developing and maintaining the arrangements.
• Providing oversight and challenge to various safety/security committees and groups to ensure due process is being followed, and continuing nuclear safety is not compromised.
• Maintaining oversight of Independent Peer Review activity related to safety documentation aligned with individual Assurance Plans.
• Developing, maintaining and deploying an effective Operational Experience feedback system for the Barrow site that encompasses all relevant nuclear and radiological incidents and events, from both internal and external sources.

Your skills and experiences:

• Working knowledge of nuclear site licence conditions/authorisation conditions & working on nuclear licenced sites from a similar role and/or security regulations or an equivalent regulated industry.
• Experience of managing programmes of work within the nuclear industry or equivalent highly regulated industry.
• Experience of engaging and influencing senior management and external regulators.

Desirable:

• Marine Engineering Submariner background – Nuclear Plant Operators or experience of Nuclear Submarine Build & Commissioning.
• Degree or equivalent in STEM subject.
• Experience in Audit & Regulation.

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Independent Nuclear Assurance Team:

As an Independent Nuclear Assurance Inspector, you will be working as part of a group of regulatory inspectors reporting to the Senior Engineering Manager (Independent Nuclear Assurance). The Independent Nuclear Assurance team acts as the internal regulator for the Submarines business, forming an evidence-based independent view of the business’ nuclear and radiological safety and security performance.

Through delivery of a comprehensive inspection programme, the team develops the evidence to support its findings and conclusions and has the opportunity to influence change at every level of the business including the safety of our boat delivery programmes. The team form part of the Nuclear Safety and Regulation Department within the Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate.

One of the main attractions of this role is the opportunity to work with all areas of the business. With the diversity of this role, you can be one day carrying out an on-board boat or facility inspection and the next interviewing a director in relation to a specific business requirement. We offer relocation support across all Submarines roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 30th January 2026. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.