KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Act as an expert consultant in one or more technical or domain specialisms, advising projects, designing solutions in complex situations, and developing skills in others
• Leading and initiating external contracts or collaborations (or significant aspects of larger collaborations) forming and maintaining a professional network.
• Build relationships with internal and external partners to analyse and establish requirements, deliver projects, and define future collaborations
• Manage projects and other activities (including supervising the work of others) to ensure the aims are achieved with appropriate quality standards, timescales and costs and partners are kept informed
• Provide research advice and help to colleagues, including strategic aspects such as project scoping, technology choices, make vs buy decisions, sustainability planning
• Deliver projects to develop or improve/extend research over timescales of weeks to years
• Diagnose issues and design solutions considering full technical and human context
• Contribute to the development of the group or team by shaping processes and mentoring colleagues to set high standards in quality, culture, and practices
• Contribute to improving UKAEA’s research culture and practices
• Project management – leading mid-sized research projects or work packages of large projects and/or managing a portfolio of smaller projects and tasks and prioritising/allocating work for a team
  Salary
  £56,596 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
  View benefits
  Programme
  Department
  Operations and Technology
  Discipline
  Engineering
  Site Location
  UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire
  Type of Employment
  Full-time
  Reference Number

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Educational Background: A degree in a scientific, engineering, or technical subject (or equivalent experience), with a postgraduate research degree (i.e., PhD) or similar level of expertise.
• Technical Expertise: Strong knowledge in engineering design processes, robotics, and experience in developing experimental setups like test rigs or software.
• Project & Research Experience: Proven ability to lead projects, supervise or mentor others, and contribute across the full research lifecycle with a track record of high-quality publications.
• Collaboration & Communication: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and work with people from diverse technical and non-technical backgrounds.
• Innovation & Learning: Eagerness to explore and learn new technologies, initiate collaborations, and contribute to successful proposals or funding bids.
• Robotic manufacturing processes (e.g., laser cleaning, cutting, additive manufacturing, surface preparation, inspection).
• Radiation hardening or radiation-tolerant electronics.
• Machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), or digital infrastructure.
• Mechanical systems, including sensing, non-destructive testing, and actuation mechanisms.
• Dynamic modelling and systems identification.
• Control theory and intelligent control systems for manipulation or position control.

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The salary for this role is £56,596 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.
This role is based at the following site; 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.

THE ROLE

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Senior Robotics Research Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in providing expertise and leadership for research and technology projects, as well as contributing to developing the research engineering capability of the organisation.