Senior Mechanical Engineer HVAC

Science and Technology Facilities Council
Salary: £46,444 (depending on skills and experience)
Contract Type: Fixed-term contract (23 months)
Hours: Full-time
Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX

Closing date: 16th November 2026

Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown and turn what they find into work that changes the world around us. Whether it’s sending probes into space or finding new ways to treat cancer, everyone here plays a vital role in making a positive difference to society.

Come and discover how much you can achieve when you’re surrounded by world-leading experts, encouraged to constantly learn and empowered to explore your curiosity.

Key accountabilities

The role is responsible for undertaking the efficient and effective day-to-day execution of maintenance activities relating to the heating and ventilation services. The role reports to the Mechanical Services Supervisor, undertaking maintenance to ensure the provision of safe and reliable mechanical services across the STFC estate. You will be responsible for ensuring services meet or exceed relevant industry standards and comply with STFC’s health and safety codes and comply with the relevant statutory regulations.

You will be responsible for the continuous development of heating and ventilation standards through an ongoing proactive programme of maintenance regimes which are managed through the Estates Helpdesk. You will also have an active role in the installation of new/replacement mechanical services and systems across the estate.

Role Responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Taking a lead role in the operation and maintenance of the Estates mechanical services (heating/air conditioning/chilled water and other piped services).
• Overseeing works carried by less experienced members of the team and third-party suppliers.
• Ensuring that all work carried out on STFC’s estate is completed in an effective and professional manner and that all current safety and technical legislation is adhered to, including:
  • assess risk assessments and method statements submitted by contractors.
  • assess risk assessments and method statements produced for in-house staff.
  • safe systems of work (permits/isolation procedures/hot works/chlorination/testing and re-commissioning).
• Organising, implementing and undertaking maintenance, remedial works and upgrades, effectively communicating subsequent impact to the relevant STFC estate stakeholders.
• Carrying out works efficiently and effectively; acquiring and signing off work through the STFC designated computer-aided facility management package via a mobile device.
• Installation, operation, fault finding, repair and maintenance of a wide range of mechanical building services such as refrigeration, heating and ventilation systems.
• Ensuring that all work carried out on STFC’s estate is completed in an effective and professional manner and that all current safety and technical legislation is adhered to.
• Ensuring that works are completed to a high standard and in a timely fashion in order to reduce their impact on scientific programmes.
• Attending training courses on future developments and technologies as required for the role.
• You may sometimes be required to take on additional authorised person responsibilities (eg. pressure systems/ HVAC).
• To be able to assist the Mechanical Supervisor with scheduling PPMs and reactive works across both the in-house and third-party resource.
• Ability to be on call during silent hours which will be compensated by an on-call allowance (one week in five, as part of a planned rotation).

Estates Responsibilities

As a member of STFC’s Estates Services, the post holder will proactively support the Estates remit to deliver flexible, customer focused and efficient services that support the delivery of STFC’s vision, values and objectives. The Estates Services team needs to be agile and able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our diverse customer base; it is therefore expected that the post holder will demonstrate a flexible and adaptable approach. 

All members of the Estates team will, from time to time, be expected to lead or participate (appropriate to Band level) in STFC and Estates projects that may be outside their normal remit.

Shortlisting Criteria
Qualifications
Essential

• City & Guilds Level 2/3 NVQ Certificate 6187 – Certificate in Servicing and Maintaining Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Systems. (S)
• Fluorinated gas training. (I)
• Sound understanding of health and safety legislation. (S&I)
• Basic knowledge of Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) systems. (I)
• Asbestos awareness trained. (S&I)
• IPAF and PASMA trained. (S)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Essential

• Good working knowledge of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and mechanical services. (S)
• Experience of fault finding in heating, refrigeration ventilation and mechanical plant systems. (S)
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office. (I)

Personal
Essential

• Ability to work in a methodical and structured way. (I)
• Confidence in dealing with suppliers and service users. (I)
• Excellent interpersonal skills. (I)
• Conscientious with good attention to detail. (I)
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.  (I)

Benefits

STFC values their employees by offering a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance including 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege holidays, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, exceptional average salary pension scheme, social and sporting activities and societies and a subsidised restaurant.

As one of Europe’s largest research organisations, this is a place where there’s always something new to learn about the world around us, about your career, but most of all, about yourself. Join us and discover what’s possible.

Please note: if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you (and any dependants travelling with you) will be required to pay costs directly to the UK Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee, and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.