PhD Graduate/ PostDoc - Structural Integrity Specialist

Description

Location: This role will be based from our Plymouth office.

Finishing a Doctorate is a significant milestone. For many a route into academia through a PostDoc position is a well-trodden path but if you’re looking to apply the unique skills you’ve acquired during your PhD in an industrial context, Frazer-Nash could be the answer for you! 

Valuing Your Doctorate 

As a high-tech engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash values the additional skills and experience that Doctorate graduates bring to our business. For us the value you bring comes through a combination of specialist knowledge, a robust understanding of engineering and science fundamentals from undergraduate teaching, experience of presenting at conferences, and an ability to engage with a range of stakeholders to solve problems. Within our Asset Integrity area, many of your potential colleagues and line managers have themselves completed PhDs, DPhils or EngDs. Therefore, your like-minded colleagues are readily equipped to help you to make the most of your experience and skills and tailor a career development plan for you. 

Flexible Approach to Starting Work 

We also recognise that finishing your doctorate is a stressful time, often bringing with it the ending of academic funding, the challenges of writing up a thesis, and thinking about what next. It is always easiest to submit your thesis then start your future career; however, often life doesn’t pan out that way. Hence, should you wish to commence work before submission we are happy to discuss flexible methods of working to help you maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This gives you the comfort of commencing a new career, financial stability and importantly the bandwidth to enable you to finish your write up. 

Role Overview 

The projects we support are often part of R&D programmes for high value, high performance, and safety critical systems and components. You will apply critical thinking, and scientific and engineering knowhow to assess the strength, life, and dynamics of mechanical components, systems, assets, and facilities (from the design stage, through life, and decommissioning). The optimisation of the lifecycle, efficiency and performance of systems and structures operating in demanding environments goes hand in hand with sustainability, and many of the projects we undertake are driven by sustainability and the energy transition. 

As a Structural Integrity Specialist in our Asset Integrity Group, you will use your expertise in integrity and engineering principles to help our clients develop new designs, solve their operational problems, justify the life extension of existing assets, and provide the evidence that underpins plant safety cases for safety critical assets. You will be a key player leading, delivering, and verifying a diverse range of rewarding and worthwhile projects which assess the structural integrity of a range of components/assets. You will use a variety of methods from hand calculations to complex finite element analysis (FEA). 

You’ll also get the opportunity to deliver and lead projects across the whole Frazer- Nash portfolio, supporting our customers in the energy, transport, and defence sectors.

Our projects are very diverse and can last from a few weeks to many years of sustained support. You will typically be involved in multiple projects at any one time. You will meet and communicate with customers to understand their requirements and develop your project plan to deliver the desired outcomes and insights. 

Although primarily a technical role, you will be joining a consultancy where we expect you’ll be able to work across our business and with our clients. Good interpersonal skills are important as is the ability to make structured decisions, solve problems, and show initiative and ownership internally and externally. Reporting to your Group Leader you will be accountable for your own work but will be provided with support from more experienced engineers when required for project delivery and to guide service development and strategy.

Company Environment and Culture 

Our people are at the very heart of what we do, they are the reason our clients work with us to solve some of their greatest challenges. At Frazer-Nash, we want all our people to feel they belong, confident in the knowledge that we value and respect the commitment they have made by entrusting their careers and expertise to us. 

We are committed to fostering a working culture that brings out the very best in our people, regardless of their circumstances, identity, or background. We want our people to be themselves, feel empowered to achieve their personal and professional goals, and know that we respect the unique value they bring to the company. In support of this, we encourage thoughtful behaviours and work to foster a collaborative working environment. 

Requirements

Skills and Attributes:

You’re completing or have recently completed your Mechanical or Marine Engineering PhD, so please get in contact if you have experience and an interest in some of the following: 

Due to the nature of the work that Frazer-Nash Consultancy undertake, candidates will be required to undergo pre-employment screening and must be able to satisfy clearance criteria for UK National Security Vetting.