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The job details
Post Doctorate Scheme 2025 - Environmental Scientist
Category: Waste Management & Decommissioning
Salary: Salary starting at £43,902
Closing Date: 2025-03-02
Location: Flexible
The salary range for this position is £43,902 (Grade 4C).
If you have any queries regarding the position itself please contact nnlearlycareers@uknnl.com
Please be aware that all new appointments will be made in-line with the PLC ‘New’ terms & conditions. Therefore, if you are not already on PLC ‘New’ terms & conditions and you are selected and accept this role, there will be changes made to your contractual terms. The terms and conditions of the role will be made clear in the offer letter.
If you have any queries about the impact of applying for this role on your terms & conditions, pay, pension or benefits, please contact the HR Support Team.
Job Description
UKNNL is where you’ll experiment to help solve global challenges. As part of our Waste Management & Decommissioning capability, your work will impact the lives of generations. By finding new ways to avoid, reduce, store and treat nuclear waste, and drive down the cost of decommissioning, you’ll help to deliver cleaner energy and influence our nation’s energy future. You’ll face new challenges every day, working in unique locations on ground-breaking projects. Whichever area you specialise in this is a place to do great science for a good cause.
As the national laboratory for nuclear fission in the UK, we are harnessing nuclear science to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
The Environmental Science team, are looking for an Environmental Scientist (or similar) to join them to provide technical support to this growing area. You will work closely with Technical Leads and interact with a range of internal and external customers and collaborators.
The role will provide you the opportunity to work closely with leading experts within UKNNL and contribute to the continued safe operation of key UKNNL facilities, as well as wider environmental management activities both in the UK and internationally.
To join the UKNNL Post Doctorate programme you will have a PhD in chemistry, geochemistry or environmental science and preferably have a proven ability to work in a radiation-controlled and/or contaminated site environment.
You will have the right to work in the UK and be able to achieve 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).
Main Responsibilities
We are developing the next generation of technical experts. Not only will you receive the opportunity to work on challenging and exciting projects, but you’ll continually learn from skilled and knowledgeable industry experts who are leaders in their field. We will help you become everything you can be, by challenging, stretching, and pushing you to your limits while supporting you every step of the way.
You will work internally to UKNNL in support of facility operational safety cases and for external customers such as Sellafield Ltd and Nuclear Waste Services (NWS).
Your duties will include:
- The development and review of facility safety documentation
- Delivering environmental assessments for plant safety cases from inception through all levels of project
- Carrying out Environmental audits/inspections of UKNNL laboratory buildings
- Undertaking source/pathway/receptor environmental impact assessments for contaminated land and radioactive waste disposal sites
- The development of conceptual models for contaminant transport and mitigation on nuclear-licensed sites
- The assessment, analysis and reporting of technical information relating to radioactive waste, environmental protection and discharges from nuclear sites
You will have a strong focus on data interpretation and analysis and will provide expert articulation of findings and results to our customers. In addition, there will be the opportunity to work on internally funded R&D projects, author journal publications and contribute towards knowledge exchange activities within the wider nuclear industry.
The role is both desk and site-based and it is anticipated that, while the primary focus will be in the environmental safety assessment area, there will be opportunity to support work and research activities in other areas covered by the team, for example waste and site characterisation, decontamination, remediation, waste treatment and new-build reactor design.
UKNNL recognises that academia and industry are very different environments, our Postdoctoral Development Scheme will smooth the transition whilst supporting you as you take your first steps towards becoming a Subject Matter Expert.
Your two-year scheme will provide the opportunity to develop your technical knowledge and skills whilst providing you with an insight into UKNNL’s strategy and direction. You will receive an overview of how the company operates and delivers its projects.
You will undertake personal development through training aligned to your personal development plan and understand your strengths, weaknesses, and behaviours. You will receive a personal budget to support your development within your field of expertise.
From day one you’ll have a role in a technical team involved in delivering real customer projects. You will have direct sight of the value that your skills and knowledge have to our industry and by extension our society. The Postdoctoral Development Scheme runs alongside your role, providing you the space and skills to develop in a commercial environment whilst helping you decide how to advance your technical expertise.
Our two-year programme is designed to give you:
- An introduction to UKNNL so you understand where we sit in the wider context of the nuclear industry and how we work
- An introduction to the technical expertise at the core of our business so you understand how your expertise interrelates with our wider technical portfolio
- A clear pathway of technical development
- Commercial awareness of the Business Operations of UKNNL
- Opportunity to network with mid-career professionals and experts
- Mentoring to achieve chartered status with your chosen professional body
- A choice of development activities tailored to you and your career aspirations
- Membership of a cohort of early career professionals to provide support in developing within the company
- The support of a dedicated early careers team and our strong, thriving early careers community.
You will be based in Warrington, Preston, Workington or Stonehouse. The UKNNL Environmental team have a presence at all locations. As such, if successful, you can work at any of these sites.
As part of the selection process for the Post Doctorate programme you will complete a Technical Interview against the skills and competencies required for this role.