Salary range: £41,526 - £51,034 per annum
FTE: 1 (35 hours per week)
Term: Fixed (2 years)
Closing date: 21 March 2021

The Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC), part of the University of Strathclyde (Times Higher Education Awards University of the Year 2019 and Scottish University of the Year 2020), wishes to appoint a Systems Engineer (Hydrogen) to our team to lead project activities in this growing area. By bringing our expertise to project teams and key stakeholders, we aim to accelerate innovation and de-risk effective deployment and integration of new hydrogen-based systems and drive them towards business-as-usual within the net-zero energy system of the future.

The PNDC is one of the Commercialisation Centres for the recently-announced Hydrogen Accelerator (https://h2-accelerator.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/). The Hydrogen Accelerator is the Scottish initiative for developing and supporting world-leading hydrogen projects, placing Scotland at the forefront of innovative decarbonising solutions, in particular, relating to hydrogen and hydrogen-based technologies in transport. Funded by Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government, the initiative will support the development and scale-up of hydrogen projects in Scotland. 

The PNDC offers a dynamic and varied environment, providing the opportunity to be involved in leading edge work within the energy sector. As part of the University of Strathclyde, the PNDC can offer a wide range of benefits to the post holder, including a generous holiday entitlement, pension scheme, and discounts to the state-of-the-art Strathclyde Sport gym and leisure facilities. The University also currently holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award, recognising our commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia.

 The successful candidate will work as part of a growing dynamic team to develop and deliver a wide range of technical projects to support the activities of the Hydrogen Accelerator and the PNDC’s evolving portfolio of low carbon transport projects, with particular emphasis on hydrogen-based low/zero carbon transportation systems, their integration into the wider energy system, and experimental validation and testing. The postholder will be expected to lead on and contribute to high value industrial funding proposals, in addition to working with the PNDC’s industrial partners, with a strong focus on knowledge exchange. In this, the successful candidate will benefit from a close association with the Industry Strategy Challenge Fund’s Driving the Electric Revolution (DER) Challenge, as a result of PNDC’s role within DER Centre Scotland. This provides a unique opportunity to work at the cutting edge of deployed hydrogen projects as part of the energy transition.

Opportunities for innovation are extensive, through the strong working relationship and routes to market afforded by the PNDC’s industry members and commercial engagements. This will be supplemented with collaborative opportunities with other research and industry teams in the UK and abroad. To be considered for the role, you should possess the knowledge, skills and experience normally associated with a PhD in a relevant field or you will be educated to Honours Degree level with relevant industrial experience. You will have experience in low-carbon transport technologies and systems (particularly hydrogen-based), energy systems integration requirements, and the associated protection, control and management systems required to enable robust integration with electrical distribution networks. 

The position is offered fixed-term for 24 months with the potential for extension depending on funding.

Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Richard Knight, Director for Strategy & Technology (Richard.knight@strath.ac.uk).

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