STRIDE-Computational Scientist

• Salary: £43,702 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
• Division:
  Computing
• Position Grade:
  Grade E
• Department:
  Computational Materials and Engineering

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 gridby developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

About the job

High-performance particle simulations targeting exascale computing will play a key part in the modelling of future fusion reactors, spanning a wide range of use cases, including plasma modelling, reacting gas flows, and particle-surface interactions.

The successful candidate for this role will primarily be working on the development of novel software and methods for performance-portable simulations based on the UKAEA particle library NESO-Particles. They will bring a combination of a good understanding of high-performance computing methods and tools, such as parallel and GPU programming, and knowledge of statistical and numerical methods for particle modelling (e.g. Particle-In-Cell, Direct Simulation Monte Carlo, etc.).

This role is based in the Computing division at UKAEA, but a successful candidate would be expected to engage with colleagues across divisions (e.g. plasma physics), so basic knowledge of plasma physics and/or related disciplines is desirable, though not essential.

As well as working with peers on the development of high-performance simulation software, the role holder will assist with deploying and testing them on state-of-the-art systems like the SUNRISE supercomputer, which is soon to be stood up by UKAEA and Cambridge.

What You’ll Be Doing

Technical:

• Apply computational or numerical methods to scientific problems independently or as part of a team with oversight from senior computational scientists.
• Develop robust, maintainable software for use modelling aspects of tokamak plasmas.
• Ensure software meets user requirements, is well-tested and versioned and properly documented.
• Work with domain specialists to deploy computational models for research and development purposes.
• May advise colleagues on their area of expertise.
• Communicates technical concepts, methods, and results clearly and effectively to colleagues within and beyond their immediate team.
• Produces high‑quality technical reports, documentation, and contributions to journal publications, taking a leading role for outputs related to their work.
• Presents their work and that of their immediate team at organisational workshops.

People Management:

• May mentor junior team members (graduates and apprentices) on technical skills or supervise doctoral students.

Organisational Knowledge:

• Understands the context of their research within the wider landscape of fusion energy research. Computational scientists are expected to collaborate internally and externally with partners working in closely related areas.

What You’ll Bring

• A degree in a scientific, engineering, or technical subject + PhD or experience working in an academic or industrial research environment.
• Demonstrable experience in at least one modern programming language relevant to plasma modelling (C++, Fortran, Python, Julia)
• Familiarity with modern software engineering practices.
• Ability to write efficient, comprehensible and maintainable code independently.
• Familiarity with common numerical methods for simulation of relevant physical systems.
• Ability to learn and apply new technologies, communicate technical work…