Location: National Centre for Atmospheric Science HQ, based at University of Leeds (with scope for hybrid working)
Salary: £39,105 to £46,485 (per annum)
Contract length: Fixed term (for 24 months – to complete specific time limited work)
Contract type: Full time
Closing date: Midnight on Monday 11 November 2024
Interview date: Week Commencing 16 December 2024

Do you have experience working on engineering or instrument systems projects? Are you keen to develop your skills and experience in a collaborative and supportive environment? Would you like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop unique scientific systems for an internationally leading Airborne Laboratory? If so, we want to hear from you! 

The FAAM Airborne Laboratory (FAAM) is a world-class research facility dedicated to the advancement of atmospheric science. FAAM operates a specially adapted BAe-146 4-engine research aircraft managed by a unique team of scientists, engineers, flight technicians and project managers providing a complete package of support for the scientific community. The capabilities are extensively reliant on state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, often uniquely customised for use on the aircraft, which is deployed throughout the world. FAAM is supported by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is an environmental research infrastructure of national and international importance. 

The exciting FAAM Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) project aims to deliver a range of upgrades and enhancements to the scientific capabilities of the aircraft, its measurement capabilities and its research impact, extending its useful life by at least 20 years. 

As an Instrument Development and Integration Engineer, you will develop a new instrument, which will measure the concentration and sizes of airborne aerosol particles, along with the data logging and display software for this instrument. The new instrument will form a replacement for an existing, but ageing instrument – a Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe – and will utilise similar technology, with more up-to-date components. The instrument will shine a laser onto individual aerosol particles and collect the scattered light in order to count them and determine their sizes. The intention is to produce a best-in-class instrument for research work. The design will be released under an open-source licence and will be based, as much as possible, upon off-the-shelf components. This is to encourage other research groups to replicate the instrument and build a community of expertise.

You will be involved in the testing and integration of this instrument with the aircraft. This will require time spent at Cranfield University and will likely involve flying on the aircraft either in the UK or on overseas fieldwork deployments. With support from the wider team, you will be responsible for providing design specifications to British Aerospace to allow installation on the aircraft and you will publish the design blueprints on an open source repository. You will provide progress updates internally and externally and may present your outcomes internally and at national or international conferences and meetings.

This is a unique and exciting role and will be ideal for a collaborative and innovative person who is able to work across disciplines and keen to make a valuable contribution to an internationally significant project. We accept that there will be many skill sets involved in this role and expect that the successful applicant may need to learn new skills and engage in training during the course of the role. The successful candidate will join a team committed to providing a working environment that is collegiate and inclusive, one where all staff are supported and developed in all aspects of their work. 

The post will be employed by and based at the University of Leeds with periods spent within the FAAM team on the campus at Cranfield University. There is scope for it to be undertaken in a hybrid manner. We are also open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Find out more and make your application.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Philip Rosenberg, NCAS Instrument Scientist/Engineer

Email: philip.rosenberg@ncas.ac.uk