Engineer - Time Scale

National Physical Laboratory; Tewkesbury; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom is seeking a Time Scale Engineer to join our world-leading Time & Frequency department. This is an exceptional opportunity to contribute to precision timing and help UK digital infrastructure.

Backed by government investment in the National Timing Centre programme, you will help develop a resilient time distribution capability, underpinning services from telecommunications to transport networks, even if satellite systems fail.

Responsibilities

• Building domain-specific knowledge to support cross-functional teams
• Performing calibration and measurement activities in our laboratories
• Supporting through-life management of hardware assets; including
• Specifying and procuring equipment
• Contributing to engineering artefacts (e.g., compiling compliance reports or supporting obsolescence planning)
• Testing & integration of new equipment (e.g., time interval counters)
• Maintaining accurate records and contributing to information management
• Ad-hoc data processing / analysis to review the performance of the time scale and constituent components.

Job description

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department seek a Time Scale Engineer.

This is an exceptional opportunity to join the global authority in precision timing at a defining moment for UK digital infrastructure.

Backed by a government investment of £180 million in the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme, we are developing a world-first resilient time distribution capability that will provide industry with a robust complement to satellite systems (such as GPS) – which are increasingly vulnerable to disruption from solar storms, jamming and spoofing. This will underpin essential services, including

• Telecommunications,
• Online banking,
• Emergency response,
• Transport networks, and
• Wider digital and data-driven operations.

Together, these services form the backbone of modern society - and you will help ensure they remain secure, reliable and robust even if global navigation satellite systems fail.

Key responsibilites:

• Building domain-specific knowledge to support cross-functional teams
• Performing calibration and measurement activities in our laboratories
• Supporting through-life management of hardware assets; including
• Specifying and procuring equipment
• Contributing to engineering artefacts (e.g., compiling compliance reports or supporting obsolescence planning)
• Testing & integration of new equipment (e.g., time interval counters)
• Maintaining accurate records and contributing to information management
• Ad-hoc data processing / analysis to review the performance of the time scale and constituent components.