Head of Capability for Waste Management and Decommissioning

Job Introduction

Job Description for Head of Capability for Waste Management and Decommissioning:

There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of the nuclear sector. New opportunities are being created all the time. At NNL, you’ll be in the ideal place to capitalise on this momentum, face new challenges and develop a long, successful and meaningful career. 

We’re an organisation that’s here to experiment and push the limits of what’s possible. So, if you’re keen to excel in your chosen field, this is the place to do it. Because at NNL, anything is possible.

The Head of Capability reports to the Operations Director, to maintain, evolve and improve the technical capability of WM&D. To ensure the business has the right resources with the right skills deliver customer requirements. To deliver all work safely & professionally. To build capability for future needs.

To head the functional area, maximising the potential of the capabilities within, including people, facilities, and equipment. Ensures clear line of sight of all safety responsibility and the availability of ready for service resource to support delivery.  Maintains strong work relationships with the customer and all touchpoints throughout the organisation.

Waste management and Decommissioning (WM&D) carries out R&D and provides operational plant support services covering processing of operational and historic wastes, management of liquid and aerial effluents, waste immobilisation of LLW and higher activity wastes (cementation, vitrification), decommissioning, management of radioactive contaminated land and both surface and geological disposal. Waste management services are also available for the processing of wastes, by thermal treatment and chemical processing to remove contamination.

The capability has an operational presence in NNL's active facilities at Sellafield and Preston and in NNL Workington rig hall. In addition, we have technical staff based in all NNL’s office locations.

The location for this role is flexible and can be based at Risley, Workington or Sellafield.

Role Responsibility

Main Responsibilities for Head of Capability for Waste Management and Decommissioning:

EHSS&Q 
Accountable for EHSS&Q:

• Comply with all relevant standards and expectation in relation to EHSSQ and Nuclear Professionalism.
• Duty of care for all staff identified.
• Delivery of Assurance and EHSSQ improvement plans including Learning Investigations.

Capability 
Accountable for all resources:

• Act as mentor to staff enabling growth and improvement across the capability.
• Alignment of resources to meet strategic and project requirements.
• Staff: Leadership, performance, SQEP, development, technical training, progression, recruitment.
• Facilities & Equipment: maintenance, renewal, disposal, repair, inspection and utilisation.
• Leads on customer delivery, exceling in delivering customer value and building a customer centric culture.
• Delivery of the NNL Science Agenda.

Budget 
Accountable for all budgetary control:

• Staff costs including, training, progression, T&S, R&R.

Customer
Accountable for all customer delivery:

• Control of both quality, cost and time of delivery execution.
• Customer engagement to maximise all business opportunities.
• Technical excellence in customer delivery.
• Technical resolution.

Leadership 
Accountable for cultural and business strategies:

• Exemplar of standards, values, and behaviours.
• Provide direction and decision making.
• Continually improve and seek to optimise effectiveness of delivery.
• Development of the function in line with business requirements and recognising technical advancements.
• Quality of science and customer delivery.
• To collaborate with CE, EHSSQ, Assurance and Professional service departments in both achieving business goals and improving capability / efficiency / compliance.

The Ideal Candidate

Essential Criteria for Head of Capability for Waste Management and Decommissioning:

• Experience in managing several differing technical capabilities, people, facilities, and equipment across number of nuclear and non-nuclear sites.
• Experience in developing relationships with customer’s related to technical capability offerings and support delivery of their projects.
• Experience in managing multi-million £ budgets, cost control, financial forecasting and planning across multiple sites and capabilities.
• Operational experience in highly regularised environment, managing technical and facility programmes to a high EHSS&Q standard. Whilst managing changing and competing priorities and absorbing new information rapidly to address complex issues.Experience in leadership and driving cultural change through the implementation of strategic business developments.
• A degree or higher and / or a relevant demonstrable level of experience.
• Technical knowledge of the capability area and nuclear related experience would be advantageous.
• Ability to obtain SC level security clearance (this includes but is not limited to identity, employment, financial and criminal record checks plus 5 years’ worth of UK residency).

Desirable Criteria for Head of Capability for Waste Management and Decommissioning:

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with a proven ability to engage stakeholders and build relationships.
• Demonstrable ability in negotiation and meeting client requirements.
• Role model to NNL’s values and behaviours.
• Proven ability to lead and inspire to achieve goals.
• Strong business and commercial acumen.
• Dynamic leadership style encouraging continuous improvement and teamworking.

About the Company

NNL is an incredible place to work A place where people do things that have never been done before A place where people push boundaries to further themselves, the business, and society as a whole.

This is a place where personal and professional opportunities are limitless. If you want to change the world, if you want to tackle climate change, if you want to help advance medical science, if you want to help put things in space, if you want to answer the big questions, if you want to work with extraordinary materials, if you want to meet great people, learn new skills, challenge yourself, work flexibly, and build a long successful career with the power to make a real impact… you can do it all here.

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service, and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.

Recruitment Agency Notice

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the provision of recruitment services. Only agencies on our PSL may provide CVs and only when the role is released to them by our recruitment team. We will not accept unsolicited CVs from suppliers not currently on our PSL. We explicitly reserve the right to add candidate details from unsolicited CVs from non-PSL agencies into our own candidate database and to pursue/hire such candidate(s) without any obligation, financial or otherwise, to the agency concerned.

United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory