Engineer - Time Scale

National Physical Laboratory; Tewkesbury; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory's Time & Frequency department is looking for a Time Scale Engineer to advance the UK’s leading timing initiative. You will contribute to a resilient time distribution capability supporting essential services and infrastructure.

You will calibrate timing hardware, manage hardware assets, and prepare technical artefacts while collaborating across teams to ensure robust performance and documentation.

Qualifications

• Experience calibrating precision timing hardware.
• Strong data analysis skills.
• Ability to work across cross-functional teams.

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 specification and procurement of equipment.
• Contributing to engineering artefacts (e.g., compliance reports, obsolescence planning).
• Testing and integration of new equipment (e.g., time interval counters).
• Maintaining accurate records and contributing to information management.
• Ad-hoc data processing / analysis to review performance of the time scale.

Skills

Calibration

Data analysis

Cross-functional teamwork

Tools

Time interval counters

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.