Digital Twin Scientist

Digital Twin Scientist

Overview of Responsibilities About us Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research organisations to achieve ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid by developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Computing Division is at the forefront of advanced computing, delivering research, development, and specialist support to enable world‑leading fusion energy research. Our expertise spans cloud computing, high performance and high‑throughput computing, scientific software, artificial intelligence, machine learning, exascale technologies, and data visualisation. Working alongside leading scientists, engineers, academia, and industry partners, we develop innovative computing solutions that accelerate scientific discovery and shape the future of advanced computing infrastructure in the UK and beyond.

You will provide technical leadership and mentorship while delivering innovative Digital Twin solutions that support cutting‑edge scientific and engineering programmes. You’ll lead projects and multidisciplinary teams, contribute to software development and technical strategy, and act as a recognised subject matter expert within UKAEA. With a high degree of autonomy, you’ll collaborate across the organisation and represent UKAEA at national and international events, helping to drive the adoption and impact of Digital Twin Technologies and advanced data visualisation techniques.

• Knowledge of visualisation frameworks (Kitware‑Paraview, Omniverse, Blender, Unity, Unreal‑Engine)
• Track record of publications in Digital Twin and/or Advanced Visualisation
• Experience in Data governance, data integration, data engineering
• Skills in visualisation‑relevant data formats (VTK, VTU, USD, OpenUSD, HDF5)
• Experience with CAD‑relevant data formats (STEP, JT, STL)
• Knowledge of Digital twin software (Omniverse, Ansys‑Twin‑Builder, Siemens‑NX)
• Experience with HPC and GPU architectures for graphics technologies (Nvidia RTX)
• Knowledge of Digital Threads technologies (Galaxy, Apache‑Airflow)

• Lead Digital Twin projects, ensuring milestones are delivered on time, within budget, and to a high standard.
• Manage and mentor a small team of 4–6 specialists.
• Collaborate with leading academic, research, and industry partners to develop next‑generation Digital Twin capabilities and evaluate emerging computing technologies.
• Drive the development of innovative visualisation tools, frameworks, and workflows for scientific data, real‑time analysis, AI‑driven visual analytics, and high‑performance computing environments.
• Develop strategic Digital Twin capabilities across UKAEA, securing research funding, influencing organisational standards, and promoting best practice through cross‑functional collaboration.

• A PhD degree in a computational, mathematical or physical science discipline, with demonstratable Post‑Doctoral experience (or equivalent experience in either a commercial or research environment), relevant to the area of Digital Twin for fusion science, such as Advanced Visualisation, Digital Engineering, Data Science, Modelling.
• Recognised internationally as an expert in the field of Digital Twins for fusion.
• Demonstrable experience managing projects, budget and resource allocation.
• Track record of publishing research in the area of Digital Twins for fusion, or a similar area of research with transferable knowledge to fusion science.
• Demonstrable experience of at least one compiled programming language (e.g. C++, Fortran, C, Rust) or advanced scripting language (e.g. Python Julia, R)
• Good experience of the UNIX operating system, particularly the command line interface.
• Ability to work within a diverse team, but willingness to take significant personal responsibility.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

• A salary of £64,820 (inclusive of a £6,500…