Senior Knowledge Engineer

UK Atomic Energy Authority; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading energy research organization in the UK seeks a Senior Knowledge Engineer to develop semantic technologies for fusion energy research. The role involves leading projects, managing a small team, and applying generative AI tools to enhance knowledge graph creation. Candidates should have strong organization skills and experience in coordinating scientific research. Onsite working is required for 2-3 days a week, with flexibility for requests. This position is based at Culham, Oxfordshire, or Rotherham.

Qualifications

• Experience in leading projects with defined milestones and budgets.
• Capability to manage a small team and supervise research students.
• Proven ability to contribute to collaborative research projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop semantic technologies for fusion energy research.
• Lead projects to meet strategic goals and deadlines.
• Design and maintain modular ontologies and knowledge graphs.

Skills

Knowledge Engineering

Communication skills

Team management

Project management

Data integration

Tools

Generative AI

Large language models

Job description

The salary for this role is £56,596 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 2-3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. This role is based at the following site: Culham, Oxfordshire. Please note that this role can also be based in Rotherham. 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., We are looking for a Senior Knowledge Engineer to join our team. You will develop semantic technologies to support data-driven fusion energy research, creating and maintaining ontologies and knowledge graphs that connect experimental data, simulations, and scientific literature. You will responsibly apply generative AI tools, such as large language models, to accelerate ontology development and knowledge graph creation while maintaining high standards of provenance and transparency., General

Knowledge Engineering

• Lead and deliver projects, ensuring milestones, outputs, and budgets are met, while identifying and pursuing new research and funding opportunities aligned with UKAEA's semantic data strategy.
• Manage a small team (1-3 staff) and supervise MSc and PhD students, supporting their development and delivery of high-quality research.
• Contribute to internal and external collaborative projects, representing UKAEA in national and international forums and partnerships.
• Share research outputs and support user adoption of semantic tools through reports, presentations, software releases, publications, meetings, and knowledge-sharing activities.
• Design, develop, and maintain modular, standards-aligned ontologies and scalable knowledge graphs for fusion research, integrating experimental, simulation, and textual data.
• Apply generative AI and large language models to accelerate ontology development and knowledge graph population, while ensuring strong provenance, explainability, and quality assurance.
• Enable semantic interoperability through ontology alignment, vocabulary mapping, data integration workflows, and automated validation, versioning, and deployment processes.
• Work closely with scientists, engineers, and software teams to deliver robust semantic solutions, produce clear technical documentation, and promote best practices in knowledge engineering. Working across knowledge engineering, data integration, and applied AI, you will build scalable semantic systems for collaborative research, contribute to research strategy, supervise early-career researchers, lead small projects and teams, and work closely with scientists and engineers to ensure solutions meet evolving research and industry needs. You will bring strong organisation and time-management skills, including experience coordinating scientific or technical events, along with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• If in addition to the above, you have strong organisation and time-management skills, including experience coordinating scientific or technical events, as well as excellent written and verbal communication abilities, we would love to hear from you.