Principal Process Engineer – Nuclear

Principal Process Engineer – Nuclear
Location: Warrington – Hinton House
Hybrid: 3 days per week in the Warrington office
Rate: £61 per hour
IR35: Inside IR35
Contract: 12 months +
Clearance: SC Clearance required

Lead Process Engineering on a Major Nuclear Programme
Are you an experienced Principal Process Engineer looking for your next long-term contract within the nuclear sector?
This is an excellent opportunity to join a major nuclear engineering programme in Warrington, taking a lead role within a small team of process engineers and helping deliver technically challenging work in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.
You will play a key role in the development of the G3 Phase 3 project, supporting the project through concept development and into preliminary and detailed design.

The Opportunity
The project involves the movement and storage of nuclear fuel following Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE), including the transfer of fuel in PIE cans inside transport flasks via an intermediate storage pond before onward transfer to long-term storage.
As Principal Process Engineer, you will provide technical leadership to the process engineering team, working closely with a wide range of engineering and project disciplines.
Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading a small team of Process Engineers and managing workloads, resources and delegation.
• Delivering process engineering design in line with project schedules and requirements.
• Supporting the Responsible Process Engineer and Engineering Manager with team building, estimates and programme planning.
• Developing and assessing concept, preliminary and detailed design.
• Producing and reviewing key process engineering deliverables, including Basis of Process Safety, hydrogen hazard management strategies, DSEAR assessments, sequence and interlock definition documentation and process calculations.
• Assessing hazards associated with fuel storage in ponds and transport flasks/sealed containers, including corrosion, hydrogen generation, heat generation and liquor carryover.
• Supporting nuclear safety case development and providing appropriate nuclear substantiation.
• Working collaboratively with Project Management, Safety Assessors, Plant Engineering, Operations, Commissioning and other design disciplines.
• Presenting process designs at assurance reviews, technical committees and management safety committees.

What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for an experienced senior/principal-level Process Engineer with strong leadership capability and experience delivering process engineering designs within complex projects.
Essential:

• Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering or equivalent.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) with IChemE.
• Proven experience managing teams of Process Engineers.
• Experience managing workloads, resource profiling and delegation.
• Strong communication and report-writing skills.
• Experience supporting nuclear safety case development and nuclear substantiation.
• Understanding of hydrogen generation through radiolysis and associated hazard management.
• Experience with safety assessment techniques such as HAZOP.
• Ability to work effectively within time and cost constraints.

Desirable:

• Previous experience working to Sellafield Ltd processes and procedures.
• Experience undertaking DSEAR assessments.
• Knowledge of nuclear material transfers, transport flasks and nuclear storage ponds.

Why Apply?
This is a chance to take a genuine technical leadership role on a high-profile nuclear programme, working alongside experienced multidisciplinary engineering teams and contributing to the development of safety-critical nuclear infrastructure.
With a 12-month+ contract, £61 per hour Inside IR35 and hybrid working, this represents a strong opportunity for an experienced Principal Process Engineer seeking a long-term assignment in the Warrington nuclear engineering market.
If you’re a Chartered Process/Chemical Engineer with nuclear experience and strong team leadership skills, we’d like to hear from you.