Support Engineer

RAL Space: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire
Salary: £25,702 - £27,938 to £31,931 - £34,709 per annum (dependent on skills and experience) A Specialist Allowance of up to £2,000 per annum is also available for this role.
Contract Type: Open-Ended
Hours: Full-Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

Come and do the kind of engineering that made you want to be an engineer. Stretch your technical skills while building human understanding. Promote sustainability and create new materials. And, alongside world-leading scientists and technologists, shape projects that improve lives, and daily life, in the UK and far beyond.

Put simply, come and discover the impact you can make when you’re equipped, encouraged and inspired to perform to your very best.

We are looking for a Support Engineer to work within the RAL Space Environmental Test Division. The role will involve working as part of a small team to support the operation of the existing and future infrastructure. The current facilities, spread across two buildings, include multiple cleanrooms, fixed cranes and mobile handling equipment and the new NSTF facilities will expand that offering. You will be split between working in a cleanroom environment and an office or light industrial environment, depending on the task at hand.

STFC has a centralised maintenance function who will perform scheduled and reactive maintenance on the vast majority of the building systems required to operate the facilities. You will work closely with them to ensure maintenance is scheduled at a time where disruption of services provided to users is minimised, and to ensure they have appropriate and safe access to the areas they need. Where other maintenance services are required, these are arranged using third party contractors.

You will work within a well-defined Quality Management System (QMS), which places specific requirements on record keeping and the regularity of tasks. Therefore, attention to detail and dedication to see a task though to the end is paramount.

The infrastructure team is required to cover the core operating hours of the facilities, 08:00 to 18:00 5 days a week so you will need to adopt a flexible working pattern to ensure that customer requirements can be met within this time. Occasionally, additional coverage is required to support maintenance or breakdowns. Where this can’t be accommodated within a flexible working pattern overtime may be offered at the discretion of management.

Due to the nature of the role, there may be a requirement for on-call support once you are suitably experienced in the systems and procedures followed. When this is required, an additional payment is made to compensate.

The duties and responsibilities are as follows:

• Perform measurements of cleanroom parameters as part of a contamination control program
  • Perform measurements of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) performance
  • Perform general cleanroom housekeeping including replenishing supplies, cleanliness audits and safety audits
  • Operate a stock control system for clean room consumables and order as appropriate
  • Support the movement of items under test, such as instruments and satellites, between facilities.
  • Assist in accepting deliveries and movement within the building of large items utilising forklifts and cranes
  • Liaise with STFC Estates Maintenance teams, internal projects and test campaigns to plan servicing of plant, arranging shutdowns for works to be carried out
  • Provide short safety briefings for contractors and users of the facilities
  • Carry out portable appliance testing as required.
  • A strong custo! mer focus , with excellent communication skills
  • Dedication, self-motivation, positive demeanour, fulfilling commitments
  • Able to multi-task and prioritise workload.

Personal Specification

The following criteria for the Support Engineer will be assessed at either shortlisting (S), interview (I), or both (S&I):

• Demonstrable dedication to safe working (I)
  • Experience of use of multiple software packages, including Word, Excel (S&I)
  • Good logistical skills and resource management (S&I)
  • Ability to produce basic technical and safety risk assessments in-line with legislation (S&I)
  • Demonstrated teamwork and collaboration skills (I)
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal (I)
  • Ability to follow written procedures and produce relevant documentation (S&I)
  • Experience in the supervision of contractors. (S&I)
  • Additionally, for the band D Support Engineer you will have:
  • Good understanding of building services and infrastructure (S&I)
  • Ability to produce technical procedures in line with the Quality System requirements (S&I)
  • Ability to train and support team members in the use of technical pro! cedures ( I)
  • Ability to perform basic data analysis in Excel utilising existing processes and modifying those processes where required (I)
  • Ability to produce sophisticated technical and safety risk assessments in-line with legislation and review assessments produced by others (S&I)
  • Experience in the management of staff and contractors. (I)

STFC values their employees by offering a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege holidays, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, exceptional average salary pension scheme, social and sporting activities and societies and a subsidised restaurant.

If you would like more information or have any questions about the role, please contact Giles Case on .

The closing date for applications is 26th February 2023.