Research Associate/ Fellow (Fixed Term)

University of Nottingham School of Humanities; University Park (FL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days holiday

Bonus scheme

Staff development

Job summary

University of Nottingham is seeking an Application Engineer within the Power Electronics, Machines and Control Institute (PEMC). The role focuses on hands-on design of power converters, developing drive control software in C, building hardware, and conducting experiments in state-of-the-art facilities.

The team is international and collaborative, offering extensive lab resources, 5MW testing capability, and opportunities for growth in power electronics and machine drives for aerospace,

Qualifications

• Proven design skills applied to power electronics converters and drive systems from concept through to hardware.
• Track record of writing power electronics control code in C or equivalent.
• Solid understanding of power converter design including topology selection, gate drive design and EMC.
• Practical lab skills in converter characterisation, instrumentation and data acquisition.

Responsibilities

• Design novel power converter topologies and drive hardware.
• Write and validate drive control code.
• Build and commission hardware and run experiments on PEMC’s facilities.

Skills

Power electronics design

Drive systems

C programming

EMC understanding

Lab instrumentation

Education

PhD in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Oscilloscope

DAQ systems

LabVIEW

Job description

Salary

£32,080 to £47,389 per annum, depending on skills and experience (minimum £35608 with relevant PhD). Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Area

Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Location

University Park

Salary

£32,080 to £47,389 per annum, depending on skills and experience (minimum £35608 with relevant PhD). Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Closing Date

Sunday 01 November 2026

Reference

ENG2552726

About The Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Application Engineer to join the Power Electronics, Machines and Control Institute (PEMC) at the University of Nottingham. This is a hands‑on engineering role at the heart of world‑leading research in power electronics and drive systems. Day to day, you will be designing novel power converter topologies, writing and validating drive control code, building and commissioning hardware, and running experiments on PEMC’s state‑of‑the‑art test facilities.

About The Team

The PEMC institute has grown exponentially and now has over 200 members, 24 academics and circa 130 PhD students, researchers, and engineers. The group offers state‑of‑the‑art facilities spanning 3500m², capable of handling up to 5MW for construction and testing, and is world leading in power electronics, machine drives and control for aerospace, automotive, renewable energy and industrial applications. We are a diverse, international team and we believe that a breadth of backgrounds and perspectives makes us stronger. We actively encourage applications from candidates of all cultures, ethnicities, genders and beliefs, and welcome those who bring different experiences and ways of thinking to our work.

About You

We are looking for a motivated and practical engineer with a passion for power electronics. You will need: proven design skills applied to power electronics converters and drive systems from concept through to hardware; a track record of writing power electronics control code in C or equivalent; solid understanding of power converter design including topology selection, gate drive design and EMC; practical lab skills in converter characterisation, instrumentation and data acquisition. If you enjoy solving difficult engineering problems, working in a fast‑paced multidisciplinary environment and seeing your designs come to life on the bench, this role is for you.

Reporting to the project lead, you will collaborate with academics, researchers, technical services colleagues and industrial partners. You will be self‑motivated, well organised and comfortable working on complex, ambiguous engineering challenges, bringing clarity and practical problem‑solving to every stage of the project.

What We Offer

• A friendly, diverse, and supportive working environment.
• Generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (or pro rata) plus standard bank holidays and five university closure days, including closure between Christmas and New Year.
• Our reward scheme grants bonuses of numerous values for excellent work.
• We are committed to staff development through the provision of training, continued support, and career progression opportunities.
• You will have access to a range of benefits and rewards, including fitness and health facilities, staff discounts, travel schemes and many more. To find out more about what we can offer you, visit our benefits website.

Our University is a supportive, inclusive, caring and positive community. We warmly welcome those of different cultures, ethnicities and beliefs – indeed this very diversity is vital to our success, it is fundamental to our values and enriches life on campus. We welcome applications from UK, Europe and from across the globe. For more information on the support we offer our international colleagues, see our Moving to Nottingham Page.

For successful international applicants, we provide financial support for your visa and the immigration health surcharge, plus an interest‑free loan to help cover the cost of immigration‑related expenses for any dependants accompanying you to the UK. For more information please see the our webpage on Financial support for visas and the immigration health surcharge.

Additional Information

If we make a conditional offer of employment, the University of Nottingham will ask you whether you have any unspent criminal convictions as part of our pre‑employment checks. If the position you are applying for is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 you will be asked to confirm both spent and unspent convictions at the point of offer. Examples of such posts include clinical, medical and allied health roles, roles involving childcare services. A DBS check may also be required. The University will only use information relating to criminal convictions where the law allows us to do so in line with our Data Protection Policy. Personal data relating to criminal convictions will be retained confidentially and securely and access to that data will be strictly controlled.

More information relating to the manner in which we process your personal data is located within our privacy notice for staff, job applicants and others working at the University. Information about your rights relating to the use of your personal data can be found within our website privacy notice.

This post is available on a fixed term basis for 1 year. Your working hours will be 36.25 hours per week (full time). If you are interested in part‑time work (minimum hours to be agreed), we encourage you to apply, please specify your preferred hours in your application. Job share arrangements may also be considered.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) employer. Increasing the diversity of our community is extremely important to us and we are committed to the aims of Disability Confident Scheme.

We are the first university to have achieved Athena Swan Gold Award.

To help you succeed, we published Candidate Guidance to provide support on the application and interview process.

Discover our benefits, visit Your Benefits website.

We welcome applications from UK, Europe and worldwide and aim to make your move to the UK as smooth as possible. Visit the Moving to Nottingham page for details.

Your application will be considered on an equal basis, subject to the relevant permission to work in the UK as set out by UK Visas & Immigration.

Further Details

• Job Description/Role Profile

Our university is a supportive, inclusive, caring and positive community. We welcome those of different cultures, ethnicities and beliefs – indeed this very diversity is vital to our success, it is fundamental to our values and enriches life on campus. Visit our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion website.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) employer. Increasing the diversity of our community is extremely important to us and we are committed to the aims of Disability Confident Scheme.