Location : Harwell, Oxfordshire
Closing Date : 25/02/2019
Salary : £40,792 to £50,132 plus £3,000 market supplement per annum
Employment Type : Permanent
Faculty / Organisational Unit : Science & Engineering
Division : Sci & Eng Faculty Office - General
Hours Per week : Full-time

The Faculty of Science and Engineering seeks a suitably qualified, experienced, and highly motivated individual for a permanent post located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, to be involved with experiments at Diamond Light Source National Synchrotron Facility, the Central Laser Facility and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, a world-leading centre for research.

This is a critical role and the expertise, leadership and support you will provide will contribute to UK and international research collaborations and be a key enabler for the research being undertaken. You will work as part of a dynamic team of academics, research fellows, postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, administrative support staff that make up The University of Manchester Harwell Campus, a newly formed and rapidly developing facility for applying synchrotron science to key research challenges.

Users from all parts of The University of Manchester engage in in situ experiments involving the mechanical design, development and integration of equipment. Research groups undertake a vast range of research to investigate a wide range of materials, including demanding materials and technology under a wide range of conditions including high and low temperature, mechanical tension, compression, bending and torque, various gas mixtures, magnetic, acoustic, plasma and ultrasonic fields and extreme mechanical and chemical environments. You will deliver the mechanical implementation of equipment to subject experimental samples to such conditions, and support academic users in conducting their experiments on a range of beam lines. This will include X-ray tomography (including image processing and analysis), and X-ray absorption spectroscopy and near-ambient pressure XPS, for example, as well other activities across the neutron source and laser facilities. The majority of your time will be spent supporting the academic team based within the University of Manchester Harwell Campus team and as well as the broader University of Manchester academic community, and you will contribute towards the development of the facility and use your technical expertise to contribute ideas and content to academic grant/ equipment applications.

Sitting on the local operational management team, you will work closely with the Director, Operations Manager and Deputy Operations Manager, assisting with management and reporting of the research programme. You will manage the core technical support staff based at the facility, and work with Diamond Light Source and other technical staff across the Harwell site.

You will hold a PhD or equivalent experience, in a related field (e.g. Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Engineering) and have gained significant experience in the design, implementation and operation of advanced X-ray sources and X-ray techniques in the physical sciences and knowledge of the use of X-ray and neutron imaging and reconstruction methods. Further knowledge of synchrotron or other light source operation and related techniques such as spectroscopy and diffraction would be an advantage along with knowledge and experience of working with a wide range of materials including demanding materials and their behaviour in demanding environments. Please see the further particulars document for the full person specification.

The successful candidate will need to be able to work flexibly to match the varied time demands of the role and be prepared to work outside of normal working hours to support beamtime experiments.

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Enquiries about vacancy shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Sabina Hawthornthwaite

Email: sabina.hawthornthwaite@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: 0161 306 5077

Technical support:

Email: universityofmanchester@helpmeapply.co.uk

Tel: 0161 850 2004

General enquiries:

Email: hrservices@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: 0161 275 4499

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date

Further Particulars and Job Description