The UK Government has established UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS) Ltd., a subsidiary of UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), to lead the charge in delivering fusion energy through design and delivery of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) protype fusion plant. UKIFS is establishing itself, setting up the company, attracting talent, engaging with industry, developing a supply chain, and planning and constructing of the STEP prototype.  

Fusion energy, crucial for combating climate change and ensuring energy independence, is expected to be commercially viable by mid-century. The UK, led by UKIFS, aims for a prototype fusion plant, targeting first operations around 2040. UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd. will lead delivery, collaborating with industrial partners and building a fusion supply chain with an estimated global sector value of £7tn per year. Join UKIFS and the STEP programme to be involved in this ground-breaking journey.  

As an employee of UKIFS, 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 being fully inclusive  

For more information on UKIFS, visit: https://careers.ukaea.uk/wp-content/uploads/download/UKIFS_CandidateRecruitmentPack.pdf  

Employees of UKIFS can be based at either of our sites; West Burton, Nottinghamshire or Culham, Oxfordshire (our preference is West Burton).  

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions.  

The salary for this role is £79,638, and onsite working is expected for 3 days each week.  

The Role   

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference on a global scale? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy as Head of Programme Management, Engineering Capability, leading teams of project and technical professionals to provide STEP the essential engineering people, tools and capability to achieve an integrated fusion prototype design. 

STEP - One mission. One vision. One planet. (ukaea.uk) 

Your key responsibilities will include: 

• Leading a team of project professionals drawn from across all parts of the STEP programme, providing guidance, leadership, and support to ensure the team's effectiveness and professional growth.  

• Providing strategic advice to the SRO, Programme Director, Director Engineering Programme on matters pertaining to delivery of the defined engineering capability programme of works.  

• Provide direction to the senior leadership team and the delivery teams (series of internal project managers/delivery teams) to ensure the effective delivery of the engineering programme. 

• Manage the day to day running and ongoing management of the engineering capability programme and engineering function change projects, to ensure that the required capability is available, as required, across all parts of STEP and collaborating organisations 

• Lead prioritisation and instruct value engineering exercises on projects within the capability development programme ensuring funding spend remains on track and that the programme is delivered in line with expected quality standards and strategic objectives.  

• Provide clear leadership to the Project Managers; resolve obstacles to delivery within the programme and lead the identification and employment of solutions to overcome them.  

The above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities and you may be required to undertake other reasonable tasks or duties requested. 

What you will bring to UKIFS 

• Excellent leadership and team management skills, with a track record of successfully leading and developing high-performance teams.  

• Experience of managing large programmes in a technical or engineering environment (>£100M). 

• In-depth knowledge of project and programme delivery including financial management of significant budgets. 

• Appropriate qualifications, such as MSP® Foundation, Practitioner or Advanced Practitioner. 

• Proven ability to handle ambiguity, uncertainty and high levels of complexity in project delivery.  

• Substantial experience in working with a diverse range of senior stakeholders and external partners, ideally with an element of public funding.   

• Experience in delivering engineering capability including digital tool development, modelling and validation capabilities. 

• A commitment to ethical business practices and a high level of integrity.  

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

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and women. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI 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. 

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

For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the following link for information on criminal records checks: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.