Operations (and Commissioning) Leader - Tokamak

UK Atomic Energy Authority; Abingdon; On-site; GBP 69,000 - 93,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Final salary pension (21.5% employer)

25 days annual leave + 8 holidays

Site closure days at Christmas

Flexible working options

Job summary

UK Atomic Energy Authority is seeking an Operations (and Commissioning) Leader for Tokamak operations at Culham Campus. The role demands a proven leader to drive day-to-day operations, commissioning, and restart of new plant.

Onsite five days a week with flexible working options, relocation support available. You will influence cross-disciplinary teams and senior stakeholders to deliver safe, ready facilities.

Qualifications

• Degree in physics or engineering or equivalent experience.
• Experience commissioning and operating a large facility.
• Proven leadership of multi-disciplinary teams at a national or multinational facility.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; persuasive and succinct.
• Safety management experience.
• Strong organisational skills; prioritises and delivers.

Responsibilities

• Lead commissioning strategy, planning and execution across the programme.
• Provide visible leadership to multidisciplinary teams and influence required.
• Align stakeholders across engineering, operations, programme delivery and external partners.
• Ensure commissioning activities integrate with design, construction and readiness plans.
• Manage commissioning risks, issues and governance to support delivery.
• Oversee testing, validation and handover activities to ready facilities for operation.
• Advise senior leaders on commissioning strategy and readiness.

Skills

Leadership

Commissioning

Stakeholder management

Safety management

Communication

Organisational skills

Education

Degree in physics or engineering

Job description

Operations (and Commissioning) Leader - Tokamak

The salary for this role is £81,090 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance)

This role is based on site at Culham Campus, Oxfordshire (relocation support can be given).

Onsite working is expected for 5 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.

About the Job

MAST‑U is currently the largest operating spherical tokamak in the world, providing a facility on which to perform experiments to provide the answer to key questions for fusion power to be delivered to the grid.

In this role you would be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of operations periods, including the commissioning and restart of new plant. We are looking for a proven operations and commissioning leader, not simply a commissioning practitioner.

This role requires a confident and influential leader who can build credibility quickly, align stakeholders and drive delivery through complexity. Whether your experience has been gained within industries such as nuclear, oil and gas, petrochemical processing, national laboratories, advanced manufacturing, defence, laser facilities or other highly regulated engineering environments, you will understand what it takes to bring major industrial assets into operation.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead commissioning strategy, planning and execution across the programme.
• Provide visible leadership (no direct reports but influence required) to multidisciplinary teams, fostering a culture of safe and effective delivery.
• Influence and align stakeholders across engineering, operations, programme delivery and external partners.
• Ensure commissioning activities are integrated with design, construction and operational readiness plans.
• Manage commissioning risks, issues and governance to support successful delivery.
• Oversee testing, validation and handover activities, ensuring facilities are ready for operation.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on commissioning strategy and readiness.

Essential Requirements

• Degree in physics or engineering subject, or equivalent experience in a relevant field
• Relevant experience of commissioning and operating a large facility
• Significant & demonstrable experience of leading multi-disciplinary technical teams at a national or multinational facility (directly or indirectly in an influencing role)
• Proven excellent interpersonal skills; including communication skills; experience of presenting information persuasively and succinctly; negotiating effectively with others and establishing & maintaining effective working relationships at all levels across a range of disciplines (e.g. engineering and science)
• Safety management experience
• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to manage changing and / or conflicting priorities and time optimally
• 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.

Benefits

• Final salary defined benefits pension scheme with an equivalent of 21.5% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave, 2.5 privilege days and 8 Bank Holidays
• 3 days of site closure over Christmas break
• Flexible working options plus family-friendly leave provisions

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 [e-mail] 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.