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Plasma Core Team Leader

Hybrid in Abingdon·Full-time·Added 2 days ago (last checked 12 Nov)

Our summary

Salary
£70,505 a year

About £4,290 a month after tax.

Work mode
Hybrid, Abingdon
Contract
Full-time
Experience
Senior level

Skills

Requirements

What we're looking for

  • PhD (or equivalent experience) in plasma physics
  • In depth knowledge and passion for understanding plasma core physics
  • High level of research experience in plasma core physics with strong publications.
  • Experience of scientific leadership:
    • overseeing collaborative projects with external or internal partners
    • supervision of PhDs and/or PDRAs
  • Excellent communication and influencing skills.

Nice to have

  • Line management experience
  • Currently active in scientific research directly relevant to the post:  e.g. development of plasma core models; or plasma core theory, modelling, or experiment
  • Experience of working with UKAEA’s collaborators in plasma core research and application.
  • Enthusiasm for engaging with stakeholders

Pay & benefits

What you'll get

The salary for this role is £70,505 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance) . Onsite working is expected for 3-5 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. 

The role

This role can be based at any of the following sites; Culham, Oxfordshire

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. 

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Plasma Core Team Leader, you will play a pivotal role is to ensure the team delivers high quality research in plasma core physics for the broader UKAEA scientific programme, with applications to tokamaks including JET, MAST-U, STEP, and ITER.  Line manage staff (including their development and recruitment), ensure objectives are met promptly, and set Team’s priorities in consultation with stakeholders.

The Plasma Core Team’s activities span: development of plasma core physics models and their integration into integrated modelling codes; application of the models to predict, validate, and analyse tokamak experiments; application of the models to study next step fusion devices.

What you'll do

  • Oversee the Plasma Core Team.  The Team has diverse and multidisciplinary staff, mostly with PhDs and at a range of levels. Ensure there work this fully supports the scientific aims of UKAEA programmes, including STEP.
  • Provide clear and positive guidance to ensure delivery of high quality and high impact outputs that are disseminated internally and externally, including in journal publications.
  • Be responsible for all aspects of staff management and development in the Team: agree personal development plans; set objectives; provide feedback on job performance; complete annual appraisals; and ensure relevant training is identified and completed.
  • Identify capability gaps within the Team, and supervise selection and recruitment of new staff ensuring vacancies are filled promptly.
  • Provide input to the programme Management on staff skills and availability.
  • Escalate line management issues and risks  to upper management and communicate messages from them to the Team.
  • Conduct their own research in line with the goals agreed by the programme leadership. 

Hiring process

2 steps2 interviews
  1. Your application · Online test

  2. MS Teams pre-qualifying interview

    With Talent Acquisition team · Video call · 10–20 min

    A virtual interview with a member of the Talent Acquisition team about your experience and motivations for joining, which may include technical questions.

  3. Face-to-face or virtual panel interview

    With a panel · 60 min

    A second-stage panel interview with a mixture of behavioural and technical competency questions; may include a short prepared presentation on a topic given at least a week ahead, and role-relevant assessments.

  4. Pre-employment checks

  • Initial CV review usually completes within about a week of applying (the How to apply page says within 3 working days).
  • Feedback after the panel interview is usually given within two weeks, depending on the size of the recruitment campaign.
  • Travel expenses for interviews are reimbursed only for Graduate Scheme Assessment days; all roles require Baseline Personnel Security Standard clearance and some also need UK Security Vetting, which requires five years' UK residency.

About UK Atomic Energy Authority

In their own words

About the company & team

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for groundbreaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.

As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:

  • Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
  • Corporate bonus scheme up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
  • Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment. 
  • Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders, 
  • Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays
  • Wide range of career development opportunities
  • A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive

What to expect in our recruitment process:
For a step-by-step overview of how we hire from application to offer please see our Recruitment Process page: careers.ukaea.uk/join-us/recruitment-process

Additional information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

UKAEA's mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds who want to help us achieve our mission.  We are under-represented from some groups and so want to encourage applications in particular from women in STEM, people from Black British Caribbean and African backgrounds and from Pakistani and Bangladeshi British backgrounds. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) and Wellbeing and our EDI Networks actively promote Inclusion and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email talent@ukaea.uk 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.  

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.

All open roles at UK Atomic Energy Authority
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