Join to apply for the Lead Specialist – Radiation Physics role at Rolls‑Royce SMR.
Role Title: Lead Specialist – Radiation Physics
Locations: Hybrid working with one of the following primary sites: Derby, Manchester or Warrington.
Salary: £57,600 – £75,600 DOE.
About The Role
The Lead Specialist – Radiation Physics will be responsible for the technical excellence and quality of RP&S analysis across the organisation. The role will act as the go‑to technical authority for RP&S analysis, developing methodologies for complex analysis, leading teams to deliver work aligned with technical and organisational objectives, and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders. It will cultivate a culture of technical excellence, disseminating and applying best practices to delivery, management, and validation of RP&S analysis. This includes providing governance and critical review to RP&S analysis conducted by external partners, ensuring compliance with quality and method requirements, and ensuring all RP&S analysis used by RR SMR is fit‑for‑purpose.
The applications of RP&S analysis to support the RR SMR are broad, covering radiation shielding and dose rate assessments, dose assessments for normal operations, gamma and neutron flux and fluence data generation, DPA assessments, gamma heating assessments, detector response assessments, neutron activation assessments, radioactive source term generation and manipulation, decay calculations, burn‑up and depletion calculations, support to radiological consequence calculations, equipment qualification studies, and radiation protection safety case activities.
Due to the safety‑critical nature of the modelling, excellent quality‑management processes are essential. The development of robust and automated analysis routes, including documentation of pre/post‑processing scripts (in Python) and use of high‑performance computing resources, is a critical aspect of this role. The position will support the capability growth of the RP&S Team by guiding the use of analysis codes, software, licences and hardware in line with business and strategic objectives.
Effective communication and collaboration across engineering and non‑engineering disciplines is essential. The Lead Specialist will be flexible to evolving design programme needs and proactive in collaborating with other teams to develop analysis requirements and communicate results, pragmatically balancing trade‑offs between conflicting demands to ensure technical standards and time/cost expectations are met.
What Does Success Look Like?
* Act as the go‑to technical authority for RP&S analysis, leading and reviewing complex work packages while mentoring the RP&S Team.
* Understand team activities and work independently to deliver RP&S analysis with sound governance and quality procedures.
* Support growth and development of a team of enthusiastic engineers, fostering collaboration within and external to the team.
* Lead the analysis methods and processes, driving team capabilities.
* Maintain a strategic plan for the area, working with internal and external capability while balancing delivery, quality and work/life balance.
* Support the business in meeting definition maturity gates, delivering Step 3 of GDA, and securing orders.
* Earn the confidence of senior members of the Engineering Directorate.
* Enable RR SMR to become a centre of excellence for RP&S analysis.
The Key Selection Criteria For This Role Are
* MSc (or equivalent) in Nuclear Engineering or Nuclear Reactor Physics, with excellent understanding of radiation transport and physics.
* Chartered status with a relevant professional body (e.g., IoP).
* Significant experience applying structured, high‑quality analysis methods in radiation physics and shielding.
* Hands‑on experience with radiation physics and shielding codes such as MCNP, Attila/Attila4MC, SCALE; familiarity with SpaceClaim (pre‑processing) and Tecplot/Python (post‑processing).
* Proven ability to develop analysis methods and technical approaches to support design and safety cases, including uncertainty quantification and statistical methods.
* Strong understanding of ALARP principles and the role of radiation physics and shielding analysis in safety case development.
* Track record of delivering complex analysis tasks on time, cost and quality, with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; experience leading technical teams.
* Knowledge of radiation physics applications in safety‑critical industries (civil nuclear, defence, medicine); experience interacting with nuclear regulators (e.g., ONR) desirable.
Salary And Package
* Salary: £57,600 – £75,600 DOE.
* Bonus: Performance‑related target opportunity of 12.5%.
* Benefits Allowance: £2,200 per annum for bespoke package creation.
* Pension: 12% employer and 6% employee contributions.
* Holidays: 28 days holiday (+ public holidays) with option to buy or sell up to 4 days.
* Private Medical Insurance: BUPA single‑cover health care.
* Life Assurance: 6× pensionable pay.
* One‑off payment: £250 for new starters’ home office purchases.
Why Join Us?
* A flexible, inclusive, and supportive working environment.
* Opportunities for career growth in a rapidly scaling business.
* A culture that values diversity, innovation and continuous learning.
Equal Opportunities
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds. As a Disability Confidence organisation, we are committed to fair, supportive and continually improving recruitment practices that enable everyone to thrive.
Our Application Process
* Obtaining Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance.
* Completion of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
* Completion of a basic financial probity check.
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