What if you could work with remarkable people on extraordinary things? What if the end result was something a little bit special? What if your role was mission critical?

For nearly 70 years, AWE has been at the forefront of nuclear weapons research and development. We have a critical mission: to provide the warheads for the UK's ultimate deterrent - Trident. We also use our unique skills to provide wider UK government with counter-terrorism and nuclear threat reduction solutions.

It takes a special sort of person to work at AWE. What if that person was you?

AWE is currently recruiting for Materials and Analytical Scientists within the Conventional Materials Science (CMS) group.

Location - Reading areaPackage - GBP26,200 - GBP48,500 (depending on your suitability and level of experience)

AWE (one of the best 25 big companies to work for in the UK) offers an attractive array of benefits which include:

Generous holiday entitlement 270 hours a year (inclusive of Bank Holidays) plus every other Friday off

Flexible working hours

Consideration for either full time or part time hours. Just let us know on your application if you wish to work part time

Market leading contributory pension scheme

AWE Life Insurance

We currently have multiple roles available within the Materials and Analytical Sciences (MAS) Sub-function and we would be interested in hearing from candidates who can demonstrate knowledge or experience in some of the following:

Degree (or equivalent) chemistry, materials science, natural science or similar

Knowledge of general materials science, inorganic chemistry, or organic chemistry

Previous experience with materials ageing

Working knowledge of UK REACH

Laboratory experience in a wet chemistry laboratory

Knowledge/experience of analytical techniques such as Inductively Coupled Plasma (with Optical Emission and/or Mass Spectrometry), Gas Chromatography, Liquid Chromatography, Ion Chromatography, Gel Permeation Chromatography for analytical scientist positions

Knowledge/experience of techniques such as rheology, thermal analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, metallography, mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy for materials scientist positions

Knowledge of safety paperwork including COSHH, risk and manual handling assessments

Good standard of report writing

Successful candidates will typically be responsible for the following:

Prepare, analyse, characterise and assess samples using agreed procedures and processes

Produce documentation to communicate projects

Develop knowledge in a particular scientific or product field and share best practice.

Assistance with COSHH Assessor; Risk Assessor; Manual Handling Assessor

Lead technical programmes (dependent on prior experience)

Dates for interviews will be 17th, 18th, 22nd and 23rd January 2024.

Candidates must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance prior to starting in the role which can take many months.