Chemical Engineer/Scientist

Job Introduction

Post-Operational Cleanout (POCO), Waste Management and Decommissioning is a key technical area for the nuclear industry as we address the challenges of managing operations at the end of plant life for the existing generation of facilities and take on board the lessons for future plants.

An opportunity has arisen for a chemical engineer/scientist, within the POCO and Decommissioning Team to support technical leadership and delivery of programmes of work. This is an important role working closely with Technical Leads, and will require interaction with a range of internal and external customers.

Specific areas of technical expertise required will include experience of:

• process engineering, with a desired interest in materials transport (solid/liquid).
• Ability to operate, technically lead and report experiments conducted on large scale experimental rigs on a day-to-day basis.
• Support university interactions including student secondments and off-site experimental studies in support of stakeholders and NNL’s internal IR&D portfolio.

Because of the integrated nature of POCO and decommissioning activities it is expected that the successful candidate will also proactively work with other technical teams within NNL and  customers across the full life cycle of decommissioning and waste management activities.

Role Responsibility

• Supports the design, installation and operation of rigs/processes
• Support team to meet objectives
• Take the opportunity to shape project
• Takes ownership of the project and brings new and innovative ideas to the programme
• Communicate technical information to customers, colleagues and other stakeholders
• Responsible for managing student development
• Data analysis, Report writing, Presenting data
• Have day-to-day ownership of operations
• Support the development of programmes of work to successfully achieve project scope.
• Deliver project scope outcomes
• Liaising with project stakeholders; commissioning teams, facilities personnel, safety assessors and other scientific/engineering disciplines, as required to provide fit for purpose engineered solutions.
• Working with other (multi-disciplinary) engineering teams to deliver engineering work packages.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance on issues appropriate to their discipline.
• Work alongside project / programme managers and customers to ensure that work is delivered to meet time, cost, quality and safety requirements.
• Champion improvement projects/initiatives.
• Keep abreast of developments in their own field and applying them to designated work packages.
• Provide support to develop the skills and abilities of others for the benefit of the company.

The Ideal Candidate

Essential Skills/Qualifications:

• Degree in Chemical Engineering or related subject or relevant level of experience
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Ability to problem solve and seek solutions
• Excellent organisational and planning skills
• Ability to proactively work with other technical teams internally and with customers

Desirable Skills/Qualifications:

• Experience in writing publication quality documents
• Rig/workstation experience
• Self-motivated, high energy contributor.
• Questioning attitude.

About the Company

We play a key role in the UK and global nuclear industry. That means reducing the cost of clean-up and decommissioning, maintaining critical skills and attracting talented new people to the industry. We're the only UK organisation with the skills, facilities and expertise to provide technical support to all aspects of the nuclear industry. What's more, we pride ourselves on offering quality, value and service to every one of our customers.

National Nuclear Laboratory