Process Engineering Group Lead in Abingdon

The salary for this role is £71,815 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. This role is 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 and possibly a search of open source data.

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Process Engineering Group Lead, you will play a pivotal role in leading, developing and managing the Process Engineering Group and ownership of the Process/Chemical engineering discipline to support programmes and projects across UKAEA. The Group Lead oversees the management of work and development of the employees in the Group. They provide strategic management and planning to provide a framework of templates, processes and procedures that enable the consistent, efficient and effective delivery of process and chemical engineering outputs. They engage with senior project and programme managers to develop strategic relationships and ensure timely and effective support. The role holder provides specialist technical knowledge and direction in a complex plant and processes. They serve as a point of authority and advise on technical solutions for designs and/or critical plant operational issues and will be experienced in performing process engineering calculations to support design decisions. They have good working knowledge of chemical engineering, process safety and process modelling and simulation with proven deep expertise in one or more of these areas. They have a strong understanding of the hazard identification and risk analysis processes and development of process engineering documentation. The role holder may provide leadership for the technical execution large, complex projects, both at the UK Atomic Energy Authority and with external organisations where the Authority is playing a significant role in technical delivery.

Key Accountabilities:

• Technical / Professional
  • Assume a position of technical expertise and lead in setting the direction of site level projects in this capacity, acting as an authority and advisor for design solutions and / or critical plant operational issues.
  • As a capability leader, develop capability, capacity and engineering skills in the Group, for the benefit of UKAEA and for the wider fusion community and supply chain.
  • Lead initiatives to define, implement, maintain and continuously improve processes and toolsets for best practice in process engineering development and / or design to improve the effectiveness of the Group, ensuring the quality of output is maintained.
  • Act as a Technical Reference for the organisation in areas of knowledge.
• Project Management
  • Lead the technical delivery of projects including those involving international customers and/or international collaborators or suppliers.
  • Make or facilitate timely critical technical decisions that steer design solutions, meeting critical performance requirements and managing risks.
• People Management
  • Lead the Group’s resource allocation activities, ensuring suitably qualified and experienced people are allocated to the right projects at the right time.
  • Develop capability, capacity and engineering skills in the Group, leading the recruitment of new staff, in line with the requirements of the Authority as defined by the Division.
  • Actively set the direction and lead the Group’s capability development ensuring Drive capability development of engineering analysis staff, ensuring that engineering analysis coaching and training is undertaken so that staff are up to date with the latest techniques and design codes.
  • This includes developing training plans for all employees involved in engineering analysis.

Salary £71,815 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension.

Type of Employment: Full-time

Qualifications

Essential

• A relevant engineering degree or equivalent.
• Attained or actively working towards Chartered Engineer status with IChemE or other suitable professional institution.
• Demonstrable experience leading technical teams, supervising staff and supporting professional development.
• Good working knowledge of chemical engineering, process safety, and process modelling and simulation, with proven depth of expertise in at least one of these areas.
• Strong understanding of hazard identification and risk analysis processes, including HAZID, HAZOP and LOPA.
• Significant experience developing and assuring process engineering documentation, such as process descriptions, P&ID and PFDs, calculations, specifications, datasheets and design basis documents.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with internal teams, external partners and multinational collaborators.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence, coach and engage others across technical and project environments.
• Experience managing technical teams, including prioritising work, allocating resources, and developing capability.

Desirable

• Experience with relevant environmental factors such as vacuum and transient magnetic fields.
• Experience in scale-up of chemical processes.
• Experience undertaking safety calculations such as pressure relief analysis and DSEAR assessments.
• Experience across the full product lifecycle, including technical product documentation and the effective application of engineering processes and standards.
• Broad understanding of design and related engineering processes, practices, current standards and industry best practice.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here Employee Benefits. UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email talent@ukaea.uk if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.