Overview

Engineering Policy & Enablement Manager - UKIFS. Fusion energy programme leadership with UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS), a subsidiary of UKAEA, delivering STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) to prototype a fusion plant targeting first operations around 2040. Onsite working is expected for 3 days per week with flexible working options. This role is based at West Burton, Nottinghamshire or Culham, Oxfordshire.

UKIFS will lead delivery in collaboration with industrial partners to build a fusion supply chain. The programme aims to create a globally significant sector and contribute to sustainable, low-carbon energy and energy security.

For more information on UKIFS and benefits, see the UKAEA careers pages and candidate recruitment pack linked in this posting.

What you’ll be doing

The Engineering Policy & Enablement Manager will own the delivery of unified engineering governance in the form of policy, processes and procedures across the STEP programme. You will operate in an open governance space that supports innovation, and lead implementation through digital PLM systems, structured documentation, and supporting tools.

As the visible leader and subject matter expert for engineering policy and tools, you will own the hierarchy of policy, process and procedure, developing principles, frameworks and guidance to enable effective adoption across the engineering organisation. You will build strong relationships across functional areas to support technical, programme and operations leads in tailoring local processes while maintaining a consistent, programme-wide approach. You will promote a policy‑through‑culture model, embedding policy principles into behaviours rather than through extensive documentation.

You will collaborate with technical teams, programme management and whole-plant partners to enable scalable, standardised and effective ways of working that underpin the STEP programme.

Key areas for influence include:

• Policy, Process and Procedure
• Engineering strategy
• Delegation of authority
• Planning and templates
• Communications, ethical and responsible engagement
• Engineering toolset delivery
• Assurance of policy approaches
• Compatibility/waivers

Your main areas of responsibility will include:

• Develop and implement key process enablers within the UKIFS policy environment to enable engineering governance at local and enterprise levels.
• Create materials such as templates, digital processes and briefings to enable policy adoption across teams.
• Work with functional leads to support fit-for-purpose governance reflecting local needs while maintaining plant-level cohesion.
• Collaborate with Whole Plant Partners (WPPs) to ensure policy goals translate across engineering entities via interfacing agreements and waivers.
• Drive policy adoption into digital tools, maximise engineering delivery time and minimise documentation through established processes in PLM and related tools.
• Participate in tool selection, define templates and act as a primary stakeholder in tool setup for key compliance approaches (e.g., FMEA, HARA).
• Develop key design for X principles (reliability, cost, certification, etc.).

• Enable processes and continuous improvement
• Own through-life governance documentation across physical and digital spaces, ensuring alignment with industry best practice and desired ways of working.
• Work with whole-plant partners to understand governance ecosystems and select approaches that are best-for-programme and efficient.
• Maintain governance horizon scanning to identify industry and global programme practices that could support Fusion.
• Ensure proportionality, adoptability and scalability of engineering processes with a best-for-programme mindset.

• Lead multi-disciplinary teams
• Provide leadership over the integrated engineering policy environment, balancing WPP and supplier needs with policy, process and procedure.
• Lead functional delivery teams and IPTs to produce fit-for-purpose procedures and documented ways of working.
• Appoint and mentor process champions to propagate governance values from strategy to delivery.
• Define methods for Engineers to demonstrate to the Design Authority that ways of working meet best practice, industry expectations, codes and standards.

• Develop the engineering governance values
• Represent governance in wider enterprise conversations on culture; advocate for best practice in policy-through-behaviours.
• Engage cross-team to promote governance adoption and transition from as‑is to to‑be state, mindful of change management.
• Chair and lead Engineering Policy & Process meetings, guiding lifecycle stages from inception onwards.
• Maintain a whole-lifecycle mindset, preparing the organisation for current and future lifecycle phases.
• Promote Product Integrity values throughout the Engineering team to maintain core policy values across lifecycle phases.

Leadership mindset - Demonstrate leadership behaviours, uphold the organisation’s culture and values, foster an inclusive environment, collaborate respectfully, and act as a cultural ambassador.

The above is not an exhaustive list of activities; you may be asked to undertake other reasonable tasks as required.

Qualifications

Essential

• A university graduate in a STEM or applicable subject area
• Experience in policy management
• Experience in technical writing
• Demonstrable stakeholder engagement and requirements elicitation skills
• Experience in engineering in a PLM-centric environment
• Proven ability to define and shape systems from first principles and stakeholder requirements
• Experience working in a diverse multi-party organisation

Beneficial

• Systems engineering experience
• Experience in a safety-critical environment (aerospace, defence, etc.)
• On or pursuing a relevant chartership
• Knowledge of policy space and related codes (safety, systems implementation or software development)

Additional Information

For more information on UKIFS visit the candidate recruitment pack. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage diversity and inclusion in recruitment. This role requires completion of an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and DBS checks where applicable. For overseas applicants, see GOV.UK guidance on criminal records checks. To view other opportunities, visit Careers - STEP.