Mechanical Engineering Area Manager

Mechanical Engineering Area Manager

Full-Time/Part Time available, Contractual location of Gloucester Business Park / Aztec West (Bristol), 3-4 days a week in office.  

Are you at your best when working outside your comfort zone, driving high-profile topics while using humility to recognise your limitations, engaging others to achieve effective resolution? Are you energised by applying your curiosity to seek out and drive challenging topics? Do you thrive in an environment where you will need to bring clarity and strategic awareness to break through complexity and uncertainty? Do you enjoy leading others to achieve great results? Above all, are you passionate about helping Britain achieve Net Zero?

If so, we want you to join us as our next Mechanical Engineering Area Manager with a focus on reactor performance, on one of the most exciting and ambitious projects around as we continue to lead the rebirth of nuclear in the UK.

The Opportunity

At Hinkley Point C (HPC) we are building two new nuclear reactors, the first in a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK providing low carbon electricity for around six million homes.

We’re looking for you to join us as our next Engineering Group Lead, where you'll lead major technical initiatives focussed on Complex Structural Integrity (S) topics, for HPC, against the wider backdrop of the EDF water reactor fleet. Your role will encompass a diverse range of complex technical challenges, with a special emphasis on providing strategic and delivery leadership in multi-disciplinary issues for HPC. You’ll also be working closely with our Suppliers, Nuclear Services teams, our French business units, and the Commissioning and Pre-operations teams to prepare for future phases of the project, driving success and innovation. 

Your group’s remit consists of delivering scope to delivery to HPC of fit for purpose components with regards to their Structural Integrity requirements to allow licensing and start-up of HPC, which is key to delivering the future nuclear power generation for Net Zero. You will report to the Structural Integrity Area Manager and will be a leader with accountability for delivery of some of our most complex and impactful technical topics.

Pay, benefits and culture

In addition to a salary of £70,000 depending on experience, we offer flexible benefits that support our employees’ physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. Examples include: a market-leading company pension scheme, a bonus plan, health cover, electric vehicle leasing, mental health support and employee discounts.

We’re talking about everything from enhanced parental leave to electric vehicle leasing, health insurance to product discounts, critical illness insurance to technology vouchers, gym membership to season ticket loans.

At EDF UK, we embrace flexibility while recognising that everyone's working needs are different. Whether you're in our office spaces, on site, or working remotely, we promote an environment that supports collaboration, connection,and comfort. No matter where you are, our priority is to make sure you feel safe, valued, and celebrated.

Here, we do right by each other and everyone’s welcome. We’re on an action-oriented journey, championing equity, diversity, and inclusion. We’d like our future workforce to have an equal gender balance, represent a broad mix of people from minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+, those with a disability and supporting social mobility. 

We’re a disability confident employer and we’ll do all we can to help with your application. Please let us know if you need to request reasonable adjustments.

We take pride in fostering a dynamic and inclusive environment, where the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our employees drive fresh thinking and innovation. We understand that success means different things to different people. We believe there are multiple definitions of what it means to succeed. That’s why we support you to pursue a career that’s unique to you. Because success is personal.

What you’ll be doing

As our Mechanical Engineering Area Manager, you will establish strategic technical leadership of high-profile topics across the Structural Integrity Area within Engineering Delivery for HPC, focusing on best for project outcomes, driving and making decisions focused on Safety, Quality, Time and Cost. You will be involved in a highly diverse array of complex technical topics but will have a particular focus on strategic and delivery leadership for the Complex SI topics. 

Key responsibilities will include:

• Driving and managing topic delivery to meet the needs of the HPC schedule and budget, including strategic/commercial management and budget control.
• Developing (where necessary) and delivering your multi-year topic strategies, ensuring these evolve to address emergent issues, to meet HPC project aims, in support of HPC licensing and start-up.
• Collaborating across the EDF water reactor fleet to ensure visibility of issues and convergence across your stakeholder community.
• Advocating for pragmatic decision making, aligned with HPC project aims and ensuring technical integrity is maintained. This will involve producing and driving mitigation plans for risks and issues. There will also be a strong focus on optioneering and governance decisions, ensuring these are fit for purpose and made at the right level.
• Developing and maintaining positive and productive relationships with the necessary Regulatory Bodies for your topics. 
• Producing high-quality streamlined reporting materials, acting as a focal point for technical and business reporting for your engineering topics. 
• Running decision making, governance and configuration committees, making best for project decisions.
• Line management of a small team of engineers including recruitment, training, development and performance management. Ensuring the necessary skills and competencies are present within the team and providing appropriate training when necessary. 

Who you are…

A technical degree, or equivalent, in a relevant field is fundamental to success in this role. Equally important are your leadership skills in bringing together diverse stakeholders across diverse locations, to collaborate effectively and deliver technical change.

Other requirements for this role also include: 

• Ability to lead complex technical/commercial change with multiple stakeholders, managing multi-million-pound budgets with a strong technical delivery focus.
• Strong Experience of engineering across different disciplines (e.g. mechanical, fault studies, hazards, safety case, inspection, materials) to interpret detailed technical information, summarise it, and apply it across your topics and across Engineering Delivery.
• A desire to simplify and clarify and push for better strategic and business outcomes. 
• Ability to quickly switch from detailed technical information to strategic level information and communicate at all levels, up to and including director/board level within a multi-cultural environment. 
• Enthusiasm to coach and develop others. 
• Broad experience in the nuclear industry including knowledge of nuclear safety cases and the regulatory environment.
• Fluent English is essential. Given your stakeholders the ability to communicate in French would be beneficial.

If you’re interested in embarking in this role where your blend of technical & problem-solving abilities, leaderships skills and stakeholder management are key to success, we want to see your application!

Applications for this role close: Sunday 20th April 

Join us and together we can help Britain achieve Net Zero. 

#HinkleyPointCJobs #LI-Hybrid #DestinationNuclear #EDFNuclearJobs

Success is personal. It's your journey, powered by us. Join us and we'll help Britain achieve Net Zero together.