Nuclear Restoration Services
Technical Specialist - Characterisation
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Characterisation Lead Opportunity
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Radiological Assessment & Disposability Team as a Characterisation Lead, working across NRS sites on critical radiological assessment, characterisation, and design activities. This role sits at the heart of the work that informs decommissioning design and waste packaging strategies, offering exposure to an exceptionally varied and technically stimulating portfolio.
You’ll thrive if you enjoy solving complex problems, applying sound technical judgement, and communicating clearly with a wide range of stakeholders. Whether you bring well‑established expertise or are looking to grow into a more senior technical role, this position offers the chance to develop your skills while making a meaningful contribution to nationally important work.
What Will You Be Doing
In this role, you’ll work as a practitioner delivering high-quality assessments of the radiological and non-radiological properties of materials and waste. You’ll interface with a range of customers and apply various skillsets that support waste management and decommissioning projects across NRS sites. You’ll develop and implement waste characterisation strategies for a variety of facilities and materials, including defining data quality objectives, sampling and analysis approaches, fingerprinting techniques, and interpreting complex data sets. Your expertise will also contribute to radiological inventory assessments and source term derivation, helping to shape effective waste and decommissioning strategies.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
You’ll act as a trusted technical contact for internal customers, providing authoritative advice to support safe and efficient project delivery. This includes authoring technical specifications for radiological and chemical analysis, interpreting results in the context of project objectives and packaging requirements, and advising on waste processing routes and consignment criteria for ILW and LLW disposal. As a customer-focused technical professional, you’ll support delivery within your area of competence and work towards attaining Intelligent Customer (IC) and Subject Matter Expert (SME) authorisations in characterisation, radiochemistry and related disciplines.
What You Will Bring
The ideal candidate must hold a degree or National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 6 qualification in chemistry. You’ll bring technical experience in radiological disciplines relevant to waste management and decommissioning, supported by strong communication and organisational skills. Experience of working within a nuclear plant environment is advantageous but not essential.
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits - discover them all on our Careers website.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
About Us
To learn more about NRS and the work we do, we invite you to explore our organisation by visiting Nuclear Restoration Services - GOV.UK. It’s a great way to discover our mission, our people, and the impact we deliver.
Application Requirements
Please note: All successful candidates will need to provide proof of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment/education history (typically covering the last 3–5 years) in line with NRS Baseline Security requirements. Some roles may also require full Security Clearance, which involves additional checks. For details, please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) guidance.
At NRS, we value diversity and inclusion and encourage applications from underrepresented groups. We want to ensure you feel supported throughout the application process and provide reasonable adjustments where necessary and requested. If you require any reasonable adjustments as part of your application or interview process, please do not hesitate to let us know.
We offer flexibility on base location for multi-site roles and are happy to discuss flexible working options.
Important Note
Please note that this vacancy may close earlier than the stated deadline should we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location