Senior Systems Engineer

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 that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing 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 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 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

What to expect in our recruitment process:

For a step-by-step overview of how we hire from application to offer please see our Recruitment Process page: careers.ukaea.uk/join-us/recruitment-process

The salary for this role is £57,117 (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 our Culham site, 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. 

The Role

As a Senior Systems Engineer, you’ll take ownership of systems engineering delivery across complex, multidisciplinary engineering projects, helping to ensure systems are technically coherent, traceable and fit for purpose throughout their lifecycle.

Working across an assigned system, subsystem, demonstrator, test rig or technical area, you’ll translate stakeholder needs into clear requirements, architectures, interfaces, integration plans and verification evidence. You’ll use systems thinking to manage complexity, dependencies and technical risk, providing the structure and engineering judgement needed to support robust technical decisions.

You’ll work with specialists from across engineering, science and project delivery, giving you the opportunity to apply systems engineering principles to some of the complex and novel challenges involved in developing fusion energy.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own systems engineering delivery for an assigned technical scope, maintaining coherence across requirements, architecture, interfaces, integration and verification.
• Develop and manage requirements, traceability and systems engineering artefacts throughout the engineering lifecycle.
• Define system and subsystem architectures and contribute to technical trade-offs across performance, safety, cost, schedule and lifecycle requirements.
• Manage technical interfaces and support configuration and change-impact analysis.
• Plan and coordinate integration, verification and validation activities, ensuring evidence is complete, traceable and suitable to support technical assurance and acceptance.
• Apply modelling and analysis techniques to support design decisions, trade studies and verification activities.
• Identify and manage technical risks, assumptions and dependencies, ensuring decisions and their rationale are clearly documented.
• Communicate complex systems engineering issues to technical and non-technical stakeholders, helping teams reach informed and evidence-based decisions.
• Mentor less experienced engineers, review technical outputs and contribute to the continued development of systems engineering practice across UKAEA.

Essential Requirements:

• Strong knowledge and practical application of systems engineering methods across requirements, architecture, interfaces, lifecycle, integration, verification and validation.
• Experience owning or coordinating systems engineering outputs for a system, subsystem, demonstrator, test rig or comparable technical scope.
• The ability to apply systems thinking to complex and multidisciplinary engineering challenges.
• Experience using modelling, analysis and structured trade studies to support technical decision-making.
• Confidence working independently and exercising professional engineering judgement.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to build alignment across engineering disciplines and stakeholders.
• A structured, evidence-based approach to problem-solving, technical risk and decision-making.

Experience within complex, regulated, research or experimental engineering environments would be advantageous. Professional development through ASEP, CSEP, professional registration or equivalent, alongside experience of model-based systems engineering (MBSE), digital engineering or systems engineering toolsets, would also be beneficial.

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/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 [email protected] 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.