MAST-U Infrastructure and Software Engineer

UK Atomic Energy Authority

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Abingdon, OXFORDSHIRE, gb on site Until 10/6/2026 First posted August 7, 2026 Last posted August 7, 2026
Job description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for ground breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.

As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:

  • Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
  • Corporate bonus scheme up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
  • Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment. 
  • Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders, 
  • Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays
  • Wide range of career development opportunities
  • A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive

What to expect in our recruitment process:
For a step-by-step overview of how we hire from application to offer please see our Recruitment Process page: careers.ukaea.uk/join-us/recruitment-process

The salary for this role is £43,702 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance)  . Onsite working is expected for 5 days a week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. 

This role can be based at any of the following sites: Culham, Oxfordshire.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) , including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data. 

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As MAST-U Infrastructure and Software Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in providing support to the MAST-U operational programme to ensure the delivery and availability of key IT systems that allow facility operation.                                                                                                 

This role is for an experienced IT and Software engineer competent with IT administration for Linux and Windows based systems, data storage systems and software for data infrastructure and diagnostics. It involves contributing to a wide variety of software development projects, data acquisition hardware design and development under the supervision of more experienced members of the team making ensure the availability and integrity of the data produced by the facility to users, both internally to UKAEA, but also to external collaborators.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Develop and improve software for diagnostic control and data acquisition systems for MAST-U. This involves evaluation, testing and refining software as well as maintaining suitable documentation of both the physical hardware and software configuration of systems.
  • Manage and upgrade MAST-U data infrastructure (network switch, data servers, update servers operational computing equipment).  This includes undertaking IT administration duties and installation of equipment.
  • Work with scientists and engineers to understand their data acquisition and control requirements.
  • Research and evaluate the applicability of new technologies for the team.

Essential Requirements:

  • Degree in relevant subject such as Computer Science,  Information Technology, Software Engineering or equivalent experience.
  • Experience of developing working, understandable software in Python C or  C++  on embedded systems on Linux and windows platforms.
  • Deployment of software on Linux and windows platforms. 
  • Experience on Serial, TCP/IP, ModBus and OPC protocols and DevOps using Dockter and Ansible.
  • Experience on web technologies like JavaScript, nodeJS, REST services.
  • Experience with IT administration for Linux or Windows device.

Desirable Requirements: 

  • Familiarity with IT network infrastructure e.g. network switch configuration.
  • Familiarity with setting up and managing data storage solutions.
  • Familiarity with infrastructural tools, such as Elastic stack, Grafana, Prometheus.

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.  

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.

About this role

Summary

Support MAST-U facility with software development, data systems, and IT administration

Job title

MAST-U Infrastructure and Software Engineer

Experience level

null

Industry

energy

Location requirements

onsite in abingdon, flexible work support available

Salary

£44k+

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

PythonCC++LinuxWindowsSerialTCP/IPModBusOPCDevOpsDockerAnsibleJavaScriptnodeJSREST

Preferred skills

network switch configurationdata storage managementElastic stackGrafanaPrometheus

Specializations

software developmentdata infrastructureIT administrationLinuxWindows
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Abingdon OX14, UK

On-site City