The Role and Department

The Department of Physics at Durham University is one of the very best UK Physics departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students. Ranked in the top 10 in REF2014 in terms of grade point average, 96% of Durham Physics research was considered either to be of "internationally excellent quality" or "world leading".

The Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) is one of the major research groups in the Physics Department and develops state-of-the-art instruments for application across a wide range of disciplines including astronomical instrumentation, biophysics, remote sensing and fusion diagnostics. It is distributed across two physical locations, the new Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics in Durham, and at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) about ten miles away in Sedgefield, Co. Durham.

The post holder will provide project management support within the adaptive optics group. CfAI has provided major instruments for many of the world's leading astronomical facilities including the Anglo-Australian Telescope, William Herschel Telescope, Gemini Telescopes, Magellan Telescope, European Southern Observatory, Very Large Telescope and Southern African Large Telescope.

The post holder will be responsible for technical and managerial support across several instrumentation projects including MOSAIC and HARMONI, two first generation instruments for the upcoming 39m diameter Extremely Large Telescope, working closely with both the internal and external stakeholders. They will be responsible for meeting project reporting requirements, developing and maintaining project schedules and budgets, and coordinating the resources of the project team to ensure the timely delivery of projects. They will also be responsible for coordinating the development and delivery of project documentation as required for project meetings and milestone events. The post holder may work across several projects simultaneously and will report to the project Principal Investigator for each one.

The post is full time / part time, fixed term for a 2-year period and may be offered on an internal secondment basis subject to the agreement of the current line manager. When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.