Principal Mechanical Engineer - Microwave Engineering

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 ground breaking 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

The salary for this role is £71,815 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension. Onsite working is expected for 3 days a week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. 

This role is based in 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

This role is based in the Engineering Future Projects Group, where you will be deployed into the pioneering Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) Programme. As a Principal Mechanical Engineer within STEP, you will lead the mechanical design, integration, and delivery of cutting‑edge microwave-based fusion plasma heating and current‑drive systems. You will act as a senior technical authority, shaping mechanical architecture, driving innovation and ensuring robust performance under extreme loads. Working at the forefront of UK engineering, you will guide multidisciplinary teams, influence programme‑level decisions, and take novel concepts from early R&D through detail design and manufacture – directly contributing to the UK’s mission to deliver commercially viable fusion energy.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design and delivery of major fusion sub-systems, from concept through to detailed design, supporting UKAEA facilities and future programmes.
• Take responsibility for technical project delivery, including planning, resource coordination and risk management, working with multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
• Define and deliver technical strategy within Microwave Heating & Current Drive and related technologies, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities.
• Identify capability gaps and lead targeted research and development activities to reduce risk and enhance engineering performance.
• Apply systems engineering principles to develop robust design solutions, including requirements definition, interface management and trade-off analysis.
• Oversee the progression of designs through manufacture, installation and commissioning, including procurement and contract management, ensuring compliance with relevant standards.
• Provide technical leadership and assurance, including mentoring and developing colleagues, reviewing technical outputs and representing UKAEA in external collaborations.

Additional Responsibilities

• Manage projects or responsible contracts up to a value of £2M.
• Manage multi-disciplinary project teams including, for example, large project teams of:
  • Engineers at all levels.
  • Staff with technical expertise outside of the experience of the Job Holder.
  • Drawing office personnel.
  • Department technicians.
  • Management of On-site contractors and technicians.

As part of your role you could be asked to work in radiation-controlled areas or in beryllium-controlled areas, full training and medical assessments will be provided if this is necessary.

Essential Skills & Qualifications

• A relevant engineering degree or equivalent.
• Chartered status with a suitable professional institution.
• Extensive experience of complex engineering projects.
• Experience with fusion-relevant environmental factors such as vacuum systems, particle loads, transient magnetic fields and irradiation damage.
• Ability to perform exploratory design calculations using first principles.
• Excellent knowledge of structural and thermal engineering, fluid dynamics, solid mechanics and engineering materials.
• Experience with working to design standards and design codes.
• Leading technical teams and supervising other staff.
• Good communication and technical writing skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

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 to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email [email protected] 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.