Band 3 Chemical Engineering Nuclear Safety Inspector

Job summary

ONR is not a Civil Service department, however, we are an arms length body of Department of Work and Pensions.

Job Purpose

As the UK’s independent nuclear regulator, our mission is vital to the nation’s safety and security. We protect society by securing safe operations at nuclear facilities across our nation.

This is an exciting role critical to the decarbonisation of the UK’s economy; our national defence; and the decommissioning of our nuclear legacy. A career with ONR will provide you with opportunity to lead and shape our society’s future use of nuclear technology.

Job description

About The Role

Principle Responsibilities

As an inspector your job will be varied, and you are likely to undertake a range of roles across the sector; from regulating the construction of new nuclear build to the decommissioning of legacy facilities. Some inspectors concentrate on undertaking planned and reactive inspections on site, while others will assess safety submissions or manage discrete intervention projects. Additionally, there may be opportunities to conduct investigations, manage research projects and mentor and develop the next generation of inspectors.

As part of a team of chemical engineering specialist inspectors, you will be considering the process and chemical engineering issues and hazard associated with the design, construction, operations and decommissioning of a wide range of nuclear facilities. This will include civilian and defence facilities involved in:

• Fuel enrichment and fuel production
• Reactor design and operation
• Decommissioning
• Waste treatment
• Long-term storage and disposal of waste and spent fuel

You will be required to make expert judgements on optioneering, unit operations, operational parameters and set points, as well as radioactive, radiolytic and chemical hazards and interactions. Detailed knowledge of spent fuel and nuclear material treatment processes, including reprocessing and the conditioning of spent fuels and wastes for disposal, would be desirable.

Line Management Responsibilities

None currently, however, there could be an expectation to manage staff in the future.

Location / Travel

This post may be undertaken from the closest ONR office (Bootle, Cheltenham, or London).

You may be eligible for relocation package up to £15,000. This post requires some travel including overnight stays predominantly across the United Kingdom and occasionally abroad. The successful applicant requires a full driving licence which permits the holder to drive in the UK unless reasonable adjustments can be made under the Equality Act 2010.

ONR operates hybrid working (working in the office and or at home) as part of our flexible working policy. There is an expectation that everyone will spend time in the office on a regular basis, recognising that some work is better done face to face. Managers will work with their teams on what works best to meet individual, team, business and organisational needs to enable collaboration, as well as balancing personal choice and wellbeing.

Work with Us

Our colleagues are from all walks of life with varied personal experiences and career journeys into ONR. We want the best people for our roles. As an inclusive employer we value individuals’ contributions , regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social background, religion, or belief. Our values ‘supportive, open-mindedness, fairness and accountability’ are central to this. We invest in our people to build capability, resilience, and promote wellbeing in our great teams, underpinned by our inherent focus on inclusion and excellence.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must hold or can achieve and retain National Security Vetting clearance at SC level.

Person Specification

Inclusion

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We will consider reasonable adjustments to ensure the recruitment process is inclusive and barrier-free. If you require reasonable adjustments as part of your application, please contact ONR HR as soon as possible, preferably before the vacancy closes, by emailing ONR.Human-Resources@onr.gov.uk or stephanie.glen@onr.gov.uk to discuss further. We will also offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the guaranteed interview scheme.

We recognise we have a role to play in helping those leaving the Armed Forces and have a Veterans guaranteed interview scheme. We offer an interview to Veterans who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the scheme. Please see eligibility criteria below.

• served for at least one year in His Majesty's Armed Forces (as a Regular or Reserve).
• be in transition from, or ceased to be a member of, His Majesty’s Armed Forces.
• not already be employed by ONR.

Person specification

Qualifications

We expect all Nuclear Safety Inspectors to have:

• Degree level qualification or equivalent in chemical engineering or related discipline.
• Chartered membership of a relevant professional institution, or the ability to demonstrate performance and/or experience at an equivalent professional level

Essential Skills / Experience

• Knowledge and experience of applying chemical engineering principles to the design, operation and/or decommissioning of nuclear or other high-hazard facilities.
• Knowledge and experience of chemical engineering hazards and safety submissions for nuclear or relevant high-hazard facilities, including the use of hazard management strategies such as HAZOP, LOPA and SIL.
• Knowledge and experience related to the storage, treatment and/or disposal of spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste or equivalent high-hazard toxic materials.
• Knowledge of one or more nuclear / high hazard facilities, examples include: pressurised water reactors, advanced gas cooled reactors, high hazard processing plants etc.
• The ability to assimilate, analyse and provide judgements on new and complex technical issues, clearly and concisely.
• Strong communication, decision making and influencing skills. With the ability to see the bigger picture, targeting and prioritising work, based on risk.

We would ideally like you to have experience in the nuclear sector or alternative high hazard industry. But don’t worry if you don’t! We are happy to consider applicants with a non-nuclear/non-high hazard background who, if appointed, would undertake a structured nuclear training programme to reach Nuclear Safety Inspector level (subject to alternative salary range whilst training).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £83,292, Office for Nuclear Regulation contributes

£24,129 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

An annual leave allowance of 25 plus 8 days public holiday. There is also an entitlement to 1 privilege day. Your annual leave allowance will increase by 1 day each year up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A civil service pension

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

For more information about this vacancy please contact Peter Donnelly.

E – Peter.Donnelly@onr.gov.uk

How To apply

Please submit your application through the recruitment portal.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 19th October 2026 at 11:45

Your application should include:

• CV to include a full record of your education and professional qualifications and a full employment history.
• A suitability statement (maximum of 800 words) highlighting how you meet the ‘essential skills and experience” required for the role, which will be used at shortlisting in conjunction with your CV.
• Where applicable highlight if you have any experience under ‘desirable skills and experience’ within the application form.

Throughout our shortlisting process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the essential criteria (and the desirable if applicable ).

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Important guidance when providing CV’s – please upload text-based CVs with no graphics or pictures to ensure the anonymisation function works correctly.

Please note - if whilst completing your application, you use special characters such as (‘; “- _ *) within your examples, Hireserve will convert these characters into symbols. We are currently unable to change this.

Whilst these examples will appear on your application, this will not prevent it from being reviewed at the shortlisting stage.

Please submit your application through the recruitment portal on the ONR website directly by clicking onto the link above apply at advertisers site where you can also download full job description.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a standard (or equivalent) criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selectio