Vessel Design Engineer
Atomic Weapons Establishment: AWE
Reading, Berkshire
About the job
AWE is currently recruiting for a Vessel Design Engineer to work within the AWE Vessel Product Team (VPT), supporting the Trials, Test and Epure delivery area to ensure certified impulsively loaded containment vessels are available for hydrodynamic trials in support of the UKs nuclear deterrent. The successful candidate will work on a variety of challenging projects to design and substantiate steel vessels and their subsystems which are suitable for containing explosively driven experiments.
Vessel Design Engineer
Location – Reading/Basingstoke area
Package – £33,300-£46,000 (depending on your suitability and level of experience)
As part of our People Promise, AWE (one of the best 25 big companies to work for in the UK) has a range of benefits to suit you. These include:
- Time to recharge your batteries with 270 hours of annual leave (plus every other Friday off work)
- Consideration for flexible working arrangements so that your work may fit in with your lifestyle. Just let us know on your application if you wish to work part time
- Opportunities for Professional Career Development that include funding for the annual membership of a relevant professional body, access to mentors and training
- Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services
- A generous defined contribution Group Personal Pension (we will pay between 9% and 13% of your pensionable pay depending on your own contribution)
- Life Assurance
- Discounts – access to savings on a wide range of everyday spending
- Special Leave Policy including paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring for your family
- A host of voluntary & core benefits to suit your health and wellbeing – more information available on our careers site
- Potential opportunities to travel with work for conferences and collaboration
The successful candidate will assist the Principal Engineering Manager (Vessels) and their deputy. They will be responsible for the detailed design and substantiation of multiple vessel designs and sub-systems to contain explosively driven experiments. This will require the successful candidate to become an expert in both static codes (PED, BSI 5500 and ASME) and, the impulsively loaded vessel code ASME VIII Division 3 KG6 (formerly Code Case 2564) that AWE was instrumental in developing. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to be tutored by one of the world's leading experts in impulsively loaded vessels prior to their retirement. The successful candidate will become expert in the use, and development, of static and dynamic Finite Element analysis techniques.
To fulfil their role the successful candidate will also need to develop an understanding of a variety of manufacturing techniques in order to understand how these may influence the design under static and dynamic loading. The successful candidate will gain an understanding of, and ultimately improve the design substantiation processes for these vessels and will support the production of UK deterministic and French probabilistic safety cases.
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to attend and present their work at dedicated UK-Fr and UK-US meetings as well attend open conferences with a view to becoming recognised as a world expert in their field.
The successful candidate will be expected to remain up-to-date with design and analysis techniques and look to embrace and incorporate new developments where these can been shown to drive efficiency, improve designs or enhance safety.
What will you be responsible for?
- Deliver the engineering design work within the Vessel Product Team.
- Lead on stakeholder engagement activities in supporting design delivery.
- Assist with and/or compile technical specifications for tendering packages of work and manage the technical aspects of the subcontracted packages of work through regular reviews, in conjunction with the Principal Engineering Manager and Project Manager.
- Assist the Principal Engineering Manager (Vessels) and their deputy to sanction manufacturing defects by assessing how they affect the design intent and how the defects may impact the vessel safety case.
- Support the delivery of offsite explosive trials to test designs.
- Analyse the data from offsite explosive trials to substantiate the vessel or sub-system design.
- The Company may require you to fulfil any other reasonable duties aligned to your position from time to time in line with business needs.
What will you need to be considered?
- A degree in a relevant STEM discipline or hold an HNC/HND or NVQ Level 3 qualification supported by relevant experience.
- Awareness of engineering design and substantiation techniques
- Experience of static and dynamic finite element analysis techniques
- Experience of static pressure design codes – dynamic is desirable but not essential
- Proficient in production of technical reports
- Strong communication skills (both written and oral)
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Willingness to travel both in the UK and Internationally
Candidates must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role.
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